The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement that annual inflation rose 8.7% in April, slowing from 10.1% in March and marking the first time below 10% since August last year.
Inflation rose at an annual rate of 8.7 percent in April, the lowest level since last March, when it was 7.0 percent.
Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, said: “However, headline prices remain well above this time last year, with food price growth near record highs.”
Despite the sharp drop, April’s annual inflation rate of 8.7% was still higher than the Bank of England’s (BOE) forecast of 8.4%.
Britain’s 8.7 percent annual inflation increase in April was also the highest among the rich economies of the Group of Seven, which also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
April’s inflation rate of 8.7% is still far from the 2.0% inflation rate set by the Bank of England, and the British government has said that it expects inflation to fall to about 5.0% by the end of the year.
The UK’s April inflation figures came a day after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) saw a major shift in its forecast for the UK economy, predicting growth this year after only a month of forecasting a contraction this year. .
The International Monetary Fund said in its latest outlook paper that it expects the UK economy to grow by 0.4% in 2023, mainly due to falling energy prices.
© 2023 AFP