UK inflation since 1948

Inflation in the UK has fallen for the first time since autumn 2012, hitting 2.4% in April. Get the full data over time, see how it compares with pay - and understand the new measures
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How pay has fallen behind inflation

UK inflation has fallen for the first time since autumn 2012, hitting 2.4% in April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed today. The ONS state that "this is the first time the 12-month rate has fallen since the increase in tuition fees contributed to the growth in the CPI rising to 2.7% in October 2012. The intervening six months have seen inflation remain relatively stable". Katie Allen writes today:

Falling petrol prices pushed down UK inflation more than expected last month, bringing some relief to both households and Bank of England policymakers.
The consumer price measure of inflation fell for the first time since last autumn and stood at 2.4% in April, down from 2.8% in March. The drop was driven by lower fuel costs and airfares as the oil price fell, more than offsetting a rise in food prices after damage to crops over the long winter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

There is more than one method of measuring inflation. Up until today, we were mostly concerned with the consumer price index (CPI) measure - which is the government's favoured one. In September 2011, when the CPI stood at 5.2%, it had never been higher in recorded history. The CPI is important because it is used for uprating pensions, wages and benefits.

The second measure is the retail price index (RPI) which has now been dumped as a national statistic (although the ONS will keep publishing it for a while).

Instead we now have CPIH, which includes owner occupiers' housing costs and RPIJ - the new version of the Retail Prices Index (RPI). If you're interested, the old RPI measure stands at 2.9% this month, down from 3.3% last month.

This is how the indexes compare:

We have also added in pay data - and you can see how inflation has been racing ahead of average earnings. Even with the falls in previous months, people's wages are not increasing as fast as the cost of living.

There are some important differences between the two ways the ONS measures inflation. The government prefers the consumer price index, which also includes services, housing, electricity, food, and transportation, but the retail price index covers more items. The RPI includes housing costs and is used for many pay negotiations and used to be used for pension payments. We've included both here - just click on the links on the spreadsheet. You can get the full list of items in the inflation basket here.

If you want to see how different elements of inflation have changed, check out this interactive data explorer from Timetric.

We have gathered all the data for inflation since June 1948. Let us know what you can do with this data.

To find out more about how RPI and CPI differ, explore this set of interactive charts. The graphics show a breakdown of the different measures and components of inflation, and you can compare rates between countries.