Inflation rises to 5.2 per cent

Consumer prices index (CPI) annual inflation rose to 5.2 per cent in September, up from 4.7 per cent, following further rises in gas and electricity bills, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Electricity prices rose to 30.3 per cent year on year, up from 18.0 per cent in August. Gas inflation rose to 49.9 per cent, up from 27.7 per cent in August.

Price rises for clothing and footwear and recreation and culture activities also had an upward effect on inflation in the year to September, as well as air and sea fares which fell by less than a year ago.

However, food inflation slowed for the first time since March, from 14.5 in August to 12.7 in the year to September. The largest single effect came from shop-bought milk prices which were little changed this year but rose by four pence a pint a year ago.

Meat prices, especially bacon, continued to rise and reached 19.1 per cent in September, compared with 17.1 per cent in the year to August.

Other large downward effects came from education, where private school fees rose by less then a year ago, as well as second-hand cars and fuels and lubricants.

Retail prices index (RPI) inflation rose to 5.0 per cent in September, up from 4.8 per cent in August.

The main factors affecting CPI also affected RPI. Fuel and light costs rose to 39.6 per cent, up from 24.6 per cent in the year to August. This is the highest increase since the series began in 1948.

Additionally, there was a large downward contribution from housing, with the main effect coming from depreciation, which is not included in the CPI.

RPIX inflation - the all items RPI excluding mortgage interest payments - was 5.5 per cent in the year to September 2008, up from 5.2 per cent in August.

The ROSSI index - the all items RPI excluding rent, mortgage interest payments, council tax and depreciation costs - rose to 6.3 per cent, compared with 2.3 per cent in September 2007.

As an internationally comparable measure of inflation, the CPI shows that the UK inflation rate in August, at 4.7 per cent, was above the provisional figure for the European Union as a whole of 4.2 per cent.