UK core inflation rate (CPI)

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), series DKO8. Monthly, usually a Wednesday in the middle of the month, 7am; next release 21 October 2026

UK core inflation rate (CPI): every value, by year, with a CSV download →

What it measures

Core inflation is the 12-month rate of the Consumer Prices Index after removing energy, food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco. Those items are left out because their prices are volatile or heavily affected by taxes and world commodity markets. What remains is used as a guide to the underlying trend in prices. Core inflation is not the Bank of England's target; the 2% target applies to headline CPI. See core inflation in the glossary.

How to read it

When headline CPI is above core, energy or food prices are adding to inflation; when it is below, they are holding it down. Core inflation is not a measure of what households actually pay, since they still buy food and energy. The ONS publishes the same exclusion for CPIH, which gave 2.9% in August 2026, so check which index a quoted "core" figure comes from. Core is still affected by one-off items such as airfares and tax changes. The Bank of England also looks at other underlying measures in its Monetary Policy Reports, which can give different readings.

Background

The ONS series starts in January 1989. The highest rate, 8.2%, was in May and June 1991, and the lowest, minus 0.1%, in June and July 2000. Core inflation was 0.9% in February 2021, then rose after the pandemic to 7.1% in May 2023, the highest since March 1992, before easing. In August 2026 core CPI was 2.6%, below the headline rate of 3.1%; the ONS said transport, particularly motor fuels, made the largest upward contribution to the change in the headline rate that month.

Other parts of the UK

ONS consumer price inflation bulletin (UK only; no official regional CPI is published)

What is the UK core inflation rate?

When this page was checked on 13 October 2026, the ONS reported core CPI inflation (excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco) of 2.6% in the 12 months to August 2026, unchanged from July, published on 16 September 2026. Headline CPI was 3.1% in the same month.

What is the difference between core inflation and headline inflation?

Headline inflation is the full CPI, covering everything in the basket. Core inflation removes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco to show the underlying trend. The Government's 2% target for the Bank of England is set on headline CPI, not core.

Is core CPI the same as core CPIH?

No. Core CPIH uses the same exclusions but starts from CPIH, which includes owner occupiers' housing costs and council tax. In August 2026 core CPIH was 2.9% and core CPI 2.6%. Both are published in the ONS consumer price inflation bulletin.

Does core inflation reflect the cost of living?

Food and energy are a large part of household budgets, especially for people on lower incomes, so a measure that leaves them out does not show the change in what households pay. The ONS presents core as an indicator of the trend alongside headline CPI rather than as a cost-of-living measure.

Related questions

• What is the difference between CPI, CPIH and RPI?
• What is the UK inflation target?
• What is the current UK inflation rate?
• Is UK inflation going down?

More on this source: UK Statistics Authority and Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR)