According to the ONS, CPI inflation in the UK economy in the year to April 2023 slowed to 8.7% from 10.1% in March. On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 1.2% in April 2023 compared with a rise of 2.5% a year earlier.

Electricity and gas prices contributed 1.42 percentage points to the slowing annual inflation in April as last April’s rise dropped out of the annual comparison.

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose in April and contributed to high annual inflation, however, the annual inflation rate of food and non-alcoholic beverages eased, from 19.2% in the year to March 2023, to 19.1% in the year to April 2023.