UK inflation decelerates to 2.4% in April, approaching faster to inflation target

The UK CPI rose 2.4% in April compared with 2.5% y/y expected by the market.
The UK core CPI rose 2.1% in April compared with 2.2% y/y expected.

Mario Blascak, PhD Independent Analyst

The UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4% over the year in April, decelerating from 2.5% y/y in March while core inflation decelerated to 2.1% y/y from 2.3% in the previous month.

"The largest downward contribution to the change in the rate came from airfares, which were influenced by the timing of Easter," the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in the report on inflation on Wednesday.

"Rising prices for motor fuels produced the largest, partially offsetting, upward effect," the ONS further noted.

The UK inflation data confirm the Bank of England forecasts in May Inflation Report decelerating towards its 2% inflation target much faster than originally estimated in February and falling off the 3.1% cyclical inflation peak from December last year. The core inflation in April is just one-tenth of a percent off the inflation target.

“Growth—at 0.1% in the first quarter of this year—was much weaker, and inflation—at 2.5% in March—was notably lower than we had projected in February,” the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said in the opening remarks at the press conference after publishing May Inflation Report on May 10.

Author

Mario Blascak, PhD

Independent Analyst

Dr. Mário Bla&scaron;čák worked in professional finance and banking for 15 years before moving to journalism. While working for Austrian and German banks, he specialized in covering markets and macroeconomics.

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