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UK inflation unexpectedly rose more than expected in December, according to figures published on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics. The consumer prices index including owner occupiers’ housing costs, or CPIH, rose by 3.6% in the 12 months to December, up from 3.5% in November. On a month-on-month basis, CPIH rose by 0.4% in December, compared with a rise of 0.3% in the same month last year. Headline consumer prices index inflation also accelerated. CPI rose by 3.4% year-on-year in December, up from 3.2% in November. The figure was above the FXStreet-cited consensus of 3.3%. Monthly CPI rose by 0.4% in December, compared with a 0.3% rise a year earlier. This was in line with the consensus. The ONS said alcohol, tobacco and transport made the largest upward contributions to the monthly change. Prices for alcohol and tobacco rose 1.0% monthly in December after a 0.2% decline in November, while transport costs rose 1.3% on-month in December, up from 1.0% in November. Core CPIH, which is CPIH excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, rose by 3.5% in the 12 months to December, unchanged from the previous month. Within this, goods inflation rose to 2.2% from 2.1% while the services annual rate remained at 4.5%. Similarly, core CPI was unchanged at 3.2%. The CPI goods annual rate rose to 2.2% from 2.1% while the CPI services annual rate rose to 4.5% from 4.4%. A separate ONS release showed producer input prices rose by 0.8% in the year to December, slowing from a 1.1% rise in November. On a monthly basis, producer input prices fell by 0.2%. Producer output prices, which measure factory gate inflation, rose by 3.4% in the year to December, unchanged from November. Producer output prices showed no movement on-month. The annual rate of import price inflation rose to 1.3% in December, the ONS said. The retail prices index also accelerated, with RPI inflation at 4.2% year-on-year in December from 3.8% in November. This was ahead of the FXStreet-cited consensus of 4.0%. On-month, RPI was 0.7% in December, ahead of the FXStreet consensus of 0.5%. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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