UK inflation accelerates to 41-year peak

LONDON—British inflation has accelerated to the highest level for 41 years, driven by soaring energy, food and transport prices in a worsening cost-of-living crisis, official data showed Wednesday. The Consumer Prices Index hit 11.1 percent in October, reaching the highest level since 1981, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement. That compared with 10.1 percent in September, which matched the level in July and was the highest in 40 years. Domestic fuel bills rocketed further despite the UK government’s energy price freeze as the market faced fresh fallout from key producer Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Over the last year, gas prices have leapt by 130 percent and electricity prices by 66 percent, according to the ONS. Food prices and transport costs also propelled inflation higher. Runaway inflation comes despite Britain’s energy support, which sought to limit annual energy bills at an average of £2,500 per year. Finance minister Jeremy Hunt, speaking on the eve of his key government budget, blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine for spiking prices, as well as fallout from the pandemic. “The aftershock of COVID and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is driving up inflation in the UK and around the world,” Hunt said. “This insidious tax is eating into pay checks, household budgets and savings, while thwarting any chance of long-term economic growth.”