Consumer prices in the UK jumped 9% in April 2022 compared to the same month last year, data from the country’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. The rise was the highest in more than 40 years. Inflation accelerated from March, when consumer prices rose 7%.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg on average expected consumer inflation in April at 9.1%, as did experts at Trading Economics.

Consumer prices rose by 2.5% relative to the previous month. Experts on average predicted a rise of 2.6%. In March, prices increased by 1.1% against February.

Prices excluding food, alcohol, tobacco and energy (core inflation, CPI Core) rose by 6.2% in April in annualized terms after a 5.7% rise in March. The CPI Core index in monthly terms rose by 0.7% after rising by 0.9% a month earlier. Experts expected an increase in April in annualized terms by 6.2%, in monthly terms – by 0.8%.

Retail prices (RPI index) jumped by 11.1% in annual terms after growing by 9% a month earlier. It is the RPI index that is used by British employers when negotiating wages. The difference in the dynamics of CPI and RPI indexes is due to the inclusion of housing costs in RPI, as well as the different weighting of airfares, insurance and gasoline prices.