Household staples such as pasta, margarine and tea all contributed to last month’s jump in inflation, along with a rise in the cost of fuel and long-haul air fares.
But the increase in the overall rate from 2.9% to 3.1% would have been steeper had prices not eased elsewhere – particularly for children’s clothes and a range of electrical devices.
Petrol and diesel were the biggest upward pressures on inflation in August, according to Consumer Prices Index data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The cost of filling up with petrol was 20.2% higher year on year, compared with a smaller rise of 13.7% in July.
Diesel was up even more sharply, by 27.8%, compared with an annual jump of 18.5% in July.
The acceleration in fuel prices reflects renewed hostilities in the Middle East in recent weeks, which have disrupted the global supply of oil and other products.
Among food and drink items, one of the largest jumps in annual inflation was for pasta and couscous, where prices were up 7.2% in August, compared with a more modest increase of 1.9% in July.
Soft drinks, tea, breakfast cereals, low fat milk and fresh fruit also saw a higher rate of inflation last month than in July.
Margarine swung from negative inflation in July, with prices on average 3.4% lower than a year ago, to positive inflation in August of 1.5%.
There was a similar swing in the cost of travelling by bus or coach, which was 1.0% lower in July than a year earlier, but 0.5% higher in August.
The average cost of air fares remained lower than 12 months ago, but by a smaller margin, down 8.0% year on year in August compared with a drop of 11.6% in July.
The ONS said this shift reflected higher airfares last month, “particularly for long-haul journeys”.
Helping to limit the overall rise in UK inflation in August were a number of downward pressures, in particular a drop in the cost of portable audio and visual devices such as smartphones.
The average price of these devices was down 14.5% year on year last month, a much larger drop than the fall of 1.8% in July.
But this comes after a sizeable jump of 19.2% year on year in June, pointing to a high level of turbulence in the technology market in recent months.
This could reflect ongoing disruption in the global supply of memory chips, which is being driven by the growing demand for AI data centres, leading to short-term fluctuations in the price of consumer electronics.
Inflation slowed last month across a handful of other electrical goods including irons, personal computers, fridges and freezers.
Chocolate, dried fruit and nuts, mineral water and ready-meals all saw a lower rate of annual inflation in August than in July.
Ice cream, coffee and children’s clothes swung from positive inflation in July to negative inflation in August, while fruit juices, butter and cheese saw a larger year on year fall in cost than in the previous month.
There was also little change in cost for the staple foods of bread, rice and potatoes.
Below are some examples of how the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rate has eased or accelerated.
Two figures are listed for each item: the average rise in price in the 12 months to July, followed by the average rise in price in the 12 months to August.
– Examples where annual inflation has accelerated, ranked by the size of the change:
Diesel: July up 18.5% year on year, August up 27.8%Petrol: July up 13.7%, August up 20.2%Pasta & couscous: July up 1.9%, August up 7.2%Margarine & other vegetable fats: July down 3.4%, August up 1.5%Crisps: July down 1.6%, August up 3.1%Passenger air travel: July down 11.6%, August down 8.0%Soft drinks: July up 2.1%, August up 5.0%Tea: July up 0.5%, August up 2.5%Passenger travel by bus & coach: July down 1.0%, August up 0.5%Cinemas, theatres, concerts: July up 4.5%, August up 6.0%Breakfast cereals: July up 3.7%, August up 4.9%Low fat milk: July up 0.2%, August up 0.8%Fresh or chilled fruit: July up 1.7%, August up 2.3%
– Examples where annual inflation has eased:
Portable sound and vision devices: July down 1.8% year on year, August down 14.5%Irons: July up 9.4%, August up 0.6%Edible ices & ice cream: July up 3.3%, August down 3.0%Refrigerators & freezers: July up 3.0%, August down 1.3%Personal computers: July up 5.9%, August up 2.2%Passenger train travel: July up 2.7%, August up 0.1%Chocolate: July up 3.0%, August up 0.9%Coffee: July up 0.6%, August down 1.4%Children’s clothes: July up 1.6%, August down 0.3%Women’s clothes: July up 1.6%, August up 0.8%Eggs: July up 2.0%, August up 1.5%Bread: July up 1.3%, August up 0.9%
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