MADRID, 17 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The annual inflation rate in the United Kingdom stood at 3.2% last March, two tenths below the price increase recorded in February and the lowest reading of the index since September 2021, according to published data. by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In this way, the British CPI continues to moderate since in October 2022 it reached a record since 1997 of 11.1%, although the drop registered in the third month of 2024 has been less intense than expected by the market consensus, which that could stop the shift in the Bank of England's monetary policy.

The rise in the cost of living in the United Kingdom was mainly driven by the 4% increase in the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages, compared to 5% in February, while tobacco and alcohol rose by 12.1%, two tenths more than the previous month.

For its part, the increase in the price of goods as a whole slowed to 0.8% from 1.1% in February, while that of services moderated to just 6% from 6.1%.

Thus, discounting the impact of energy and fresh food, the core CPI increased 4.2% year-on-year in March, compared to 4.5% the previous month.