Overall inflation for food and non-alcoholic drinks rose to 18.0 percent, its highest since 1977.
Inflation in the United Kingdom unexpectedly rose to 10.4 percent in February, pushed up by higher food prices and pricier drinks in restaurants, official data showed on Wednesday, a day before the Bank of England (BoE) announced its latest interest rate decision.
On Thursday, the BoE is due to announce whether it has raised interest rates for an 11th meeting in a row.
Investors are split on whether it will pause its run of increases in borrowing costs because of the recent upheaval in the global banking sector.
“Given the market movements of late, this puts the Bank of England in an incredibly difficult position as it may not be enough for the Bank of England to press pause on the rate hikes,” Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot, said.
The sterling rose against the dollar and the euro after the data was published.
Interest rate futures showed a 100 percent chance that the BoE would raise rates by at least a quarter point, up from just over 50 percent late on Tuesday.
“Food and non-alcoholic drink prices rose to their highest rate in over 45 years with particular increases for some salad and vegetable items as high energy costs and bad weather across parts of Europe led to shortages and rationing,” ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said.
Higher alcoholic drink prices added 0.17 percentage points to the annual rate of inflation in February, while the increased cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages added 0.15 percentage points.
Overall inflation for food and non-alcoholic drinks rose to 18.0 percent, its highest since 1977.
Annual inflation rates rise again following the easing in Jan 2023:
▪️ Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) rose by 9.2% in the 12 months to Feb 2023, up from 8.8% in Jan 2022
▪️ CPI rose by 10.4%, up from 10.1%➡ https://t.co/VVfmybQmsG pic.twitter.com/l1dXAi7yyk
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) March 22, 2023
Underlying inflation up, too
Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) – which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco and is watched closely by the BoE – rose to 6.2 percent from 5.8 percent in January, versus a forecast decline to 5.7 percent.
The annual inflation rate in the services sector, which most policymakers consider is a good measure of underlying price pressures in the economy, rose to 6.6 percent after standing at 6.0 percent in January.
The increase in inflation in Britain contrasted with a fall in the US CPI rate to 6 percent in the 12 months to February. Eurozone inflation also eased last month, but underlying price growth accelerated.
Finance minister Jeremy Hunt said the data showed the expected decline in inflation could not be taken for granted.
“Falling inflation isn’t inevitable, so we need to stick to our plan to halve it this year,” Hunt said in a statement.
On Tuesday, he told MPs that inflation above 10 percent was “dangerously high”.
There were some signs of decreasing price pressures ahead.
Prices paid by factories increased by 12.7 percent over the 12 months to February, still a big rise by historical standards but their weakest increase since September 2021.