UK consumer price inflation 10.1% in September

LONDON: Britain’s annual rate of consumer price inflation inched up to 10.1% in September, returning to a 40-year high hit in July, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the inflation rate would rise to 10.0% from 9.9% in August.

The ONS said the main driver of inflation in September was rising food prices.

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Britain has been hit hard by the surge in European natural gas prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has added to post-COVID supply-chain bottlenecks and labour shortages, creating an intense squeeze on living standards.