Annual consumer price inflation eased to 2.6% in June 2026, down from 2.8% in May, with the drop driven largely by cheaper diesel and slower food price rises, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The headline rate is the lowest recorded since March 2025, and came in marginally below the consensus forecast of around 2.7 per cent, meaning prices rose slightly less quickly than most economists had predicted. According to the ONS, core CPIH — which strips out energy, food, alcohol and tobacco — stood at 2.8 per cent in June.
Transport costs, chiefly diesel at the pump, were the biggest single downward pull on the June figure, helped by a temporary easing of geopolitical tensions affecting global oil markets. Food price inflation also eased, with supermarket prices rising at their slowest pace in nearly two years. Summer clothing discounts and lower prices for some household goods added further downward pressure.
Inflation is still above the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target.
For Kent households and businesses, cheaper fuel matters more than the headline number might suggest. The county’s reliance on car travel for commuting — and the sheer volume of haulage and logistics traffic linked to the Channel crossings and motorways — means lower diesel prices feed through relatively quickly into everyday costs. Easing food inflation helps too, though supermarket prices overall remain well above pre-2022 levels. The ONS figures confirm that slower inflation means prices are still rising, just less fast than before.
Services inflation, which the Bank of England watches closely as a gauge of domestic price pressure, eased to around 3.6 per cent in June compared with roughly 3.7 per cent in May. That modest improvement, combined with a headline CPI slightly weaker than expected, is likely to reinforce cautious thinking at the Bank about further interest rate rises — which matters directly to Kent residents on variable-rate mortgages or approaching remortgage. UK GDP grew around 0.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, and lower inflation is broadly supportive of real incomes, though the Bank had previously signalled that energy price cap changes could push CPI higher later in the year. CPI peaked at around 11.1 per cent in October 2022.
Source: @CBItweets