Inflation soars to highest since 2012 after Eat Out to Help Out impact
The Office for National Statistics said inflation jumped from 2% in July to 3.2% in August – the highest since March 2012.
UK inflation has surged to its highest for nearly a decade after a record jump in August as restaurant and cafe prices raced higher following last summer’s discounts under the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation jumped from 2% in July to 3.2% in August, which is the highest since March 2012 and far above the Bank of England’s 2% target.
The ONS said the increase – the largest since records began in 1997 – was due to the discounts seen across the hospitality sector last August under Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme to boost consumer spending and confidence after lockdown.
It added there was also likely to have been some impact from the supply chain crisis on inflation last month, which it said helped push up food and non-alcoholic drinks prices.
The ONS said August’s hefty rise is set to be temporary, but experts have forecast inflation will hit 4% by the end of this year as the economy bounces back from the pandemic.
Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said: “August saw the largest rise in annual inflation month on month since the series was introduced almost a quarter of a century ago.
