UK inflation soars to 9% in April

Up from 7% in March

UK inflation rose to 9% in April from 7% in March, representing both the highest inflation rate and highest jump in inflation between months in decades.

The Office for National Statistics said today that the 9% figure, which is almost double the rate the Bank of England expected six months ago, is higher than any annual inflation figure in its dataset that began in 1989. This inflationary spike was mainly driven by the cost of fuel, along with the increase of the Ofgem cap on energy prices, which came in at the start of the month. The largest contributors to the Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers' housing were housing and household services and transport, both of which were primarily due to the price of electricity, gas and f...