📉 UK Inflation Update - August 2024 📉

In August 2024, the UK’s economic landscape presented a fascinating tableau of stability and subtle shifts. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal a nuanced picture of consumer price inflation, offering insights into the nation’s economic health.

The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) rose by 3.1% in the 12 months to August 2024, mirroring the rate observed in July 2024. This consistency suggests a period of relative stability, with the monthly CPIH increase holding steady at 0.4%, identical to the rate in August 2023 📊.

Interestingly, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) also maintained its annual growth rate of 2.2% from July to August 2024. On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.3% in August 2024, the same rate as in August 2023 📈. These figures highlight a period of steady inflation, with no dramatic fluctuations disrupting the economic equilibrium.

Delving deeper, the core CPIH, which excludes volatile items such as energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco, saw a slight uptick, rising from 4.1% in July to 4.3% in August 2024. This increase indicates underlying inflationary pressures, particularly in the services sector, where the annual rate rose from 5.7% to 5.9% 📉.

Comparing these figures to August 2023, we observe a significant cooling in inflation. A year ago, CPIH stood at 6.3%, and CPI at 6.7%. This marked reduction underscores the progress made in stabilising prices over the past year, despite ongoing economic challenges 🌟.

The largest contributors to the monthly change in both CPIH and CPI were air fares, which rose this year but fell a year ago ✈️. Conversely, motor fuels, and restaurants and hotels provided the largest downward contributions 🚗🍽️.

In summary, the August 2024 statistics from the ONS paint a picture of an economy in a state of cautious equilibrium. While inflation remains a concern, the stability observed over the past month and the significant improvement from a year ago offer a glimmer of optimism 🌈. As we move forward, these trends will be crucial in shaping economic policies and strategies.

#UKEconomy
#Inflation
#EconomicTrends
#ONS
#ConsumerPrices
#FinancialStability
#EconomicInsights
#BusinessTrends
#MarketAnalysis
#EconomicPolicy

Reference: 2024-0100-025