UK saw a sharp decline for its October inflation from 6.7% in September to 4.6% in October, making it a two-year low.
Still, the headline consumer price index (CPI) remained unchanged on a monthly basis, while the poll by Reuters expected it to rise by 4.8% YoY and 0.1% from the previous month.
Core CPI, however, excluding volatile food, energy, alcohol and tobacco prices, dropped from 6.1% in September to 5.7% in October.
The Office for National Statistics revealed that the largest downward contribution came from housing and household services, hitting the lowest annual rate for CPI since the records began in January 1950. Food and non-alcoholic beverages also helped ease the inflation, with the annual rate falling to its lowest since June 2022.
The Bank of England, after ending 14 straight hikes in September, left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.25%, as policymakers looked to bring inflation back down to the bank’s target of 2%.
However, the comment from Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors, indicated that with Core CPI falling gradually, it is clear that further progress towards the target of 2% is likely to be relatively slow.
