UK inflation rises to 4.4%

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 4.4 per cent in February, up from 4.0 per cent in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The largest upward pressures to the change in CPI inflation came from:

domestic heating costs, particularly gas where average bills rose by 0.4 per cent between January and February this year but fell by 2.8 per cent a year ago, a record fall for a January to February period. There were smaller upward effects from electricity, where prices rose this year but were unchanged in 2010, and domestic heating oil, where prices fell by less than a year ago

clothing and footwear where prices, overall, rose by 3.6 per cent following the January sales. This was a record January to February movement, and compared with a 2.0 per cent rise a year ago. The upward effect came from garments, particularly women’s outerwear

miscellaneous goods and services: the upward contribution here was driven principally by financial services where charges were little changed between January and February this year compared with a 1.3 per cent fall a year ago. The main upward effects came from mortgage arrangement fees and foreign exchange charges

recreation and culture: where prices, overall, rose by 0.3 per cent this year but were little changed a year ago. There were small upward pressures from books and from games, toys and hobbies, particularly computer games, partially offset by a small downward pressure from digital cameras and camcorders

The largest downward pressure to the change in CPI inflation came from:

alcoholic beverages and tobacco where prices, overall, fell by 1.1 per cent compared with 0.4 per cent a year ago. The 1.1 per cent was a record monthly fall and follows the record monthly rise of 4.6 per cent between December 2010 and January 2011. The downward effect on the change in CPI inflation was driven by alcoholic beverages, particularly spirits

In the year to February, RPI annual inflation was 5.5 per cent, up from 5.1 per cent in January. The main factors affecting the CPI also affected the RPI.

RPIX inflation – the all items RPI excluding mortgage interest payments – was also 5.5 per cent in February, up from 5.1 per cent in January.

As an internationally comparable measure of inflation, the CPI shows that the UK inflation rate in January was above the provisional figure for the European Union. The UK rate was 4.0 per cent whereas the EU’s as a whole was 2.8 per cent.