Government · UK · Office for National Statistics
UK Inflation Back Up to 3.1% as Motor Fuel Jumps 23%
UK consumer price inflation rose to 3.1% in the 12 months to August 2026, a second consecutive monthly increase that reverses the fall which bottomed out at 2.6% in June. The pressure is coming from goods rather than services, with motor fuel inflation at 23.0% and petrol at its highest price since November 2022.
Source published Summarised
Key findings at a glance
- 3.1% UK CPI annual inflation in the 12 months to August 2026, a second consecutive monthly rise
- 3.3% CPIH annual inflation, the ONS most comprehensive measure, in August 2026
- 2.6% the June 2026 CPI low point the rate has now climbed away from
- 0.5% the CPI rise in the single month of August 2026, well above the same month a year earlier
- 23.0% annual motor fuel inflation in the 12 months to August 2026
- 161.3p average price of a litre of petrol in August 2026, the highest since November 2022
- 14.2p the rise in the average price of a litre of diesel between July and August 2026
- 2.7% CPIH goods annual inflation in August 2026, the highest reading since September 2025
- 3.6% CPIH services annual inflation, unchanged from July 2026
- 2.9% core CPIH excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, unchanged on the month
- 1.3% food and non-alcoholic beverages annual inflation, the lowest rate since September 2021
- 1.6% recreation and culture annual inflation, one of the flattest discretionary categories
What the report covers
The Office for National Statistics publishes consumer price inflation every month, covering the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), the wider CPI including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), and the Retail Prices Index. The August 2026 bulletin, released on 16 September, puts CPI at 3.1% over 12 months, up from 2.9% in July, and CPIH at 3.3%, up from 3.1%. Both rose for a second consecutive month. On a monthly basis CPI climbed 0.5% in August against 0.3% in the same month of 2025, so this is a genuine acceleration rather than a base effect.
The composition matters more than the headline. CPIH goods inflation jumped from 2.2% to 2.7%, its highest since September 2025, while CPIH services inflation held flat at 3.6%. Core CPIH, which strips out energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, was unchanged at 2.9%. That combination points to an energy shock working through the index rather than broad domestic price pressure. It is close to the mirror image of the picture in our report on June's CPI figures, when services were the sticky component and goods were subdued.
Transport did most of the work. The division rose 4.6% over the year, up from 3.6%, and motor fuels rose 23.0% against 15.5% a month earlier. Average petrol reached 161.3 pence per litre in August, the highest since November 2022, after a 9.1 pence monthly rise. Diesel rose 14.2 pence in the month to 181.8 pence. Elsewhere the picture is calm: food and non-alcoholic beverages held at 1.3%, the lowest since September 2021, recreation and culture sat at 1.6%, furniture and household goods at 0.8% and clothing and footwear at 0.2%. The same day's ONS producer price figures suggest the fuel effect is not finished, with crude oil input prices up 26.7% over the year and factory gate prices for coke and refined petroleum products up 49.1%.
What this means for UK marketers
For UK marketers the useful read is not the 3.1% headline but where it came from. This is a fuel and energy shock, not demand-led inflation. Core inflation did not move, food is at a five-year low, and the discretionary categories that matter most to retail are barely inflating at all: recreation and culture at 1.6%, furniture and household goods at 0.8%, clothing and footwear at 0.2%. Consumers are not facing a broad price surge across the shelf. They are facing a bigger bill at the pump and on the energy account, and it drains the same monthly budget.
That distinction changes what you should do. A price rise justified by "inflation" will not land this quarter, because shoppers can see that the things they buy from you have not moved much. A rise justified by fuel and delivery cost will, and it is defensible: at 161.3 pence a litre, every courier contract, every van round and every free-delivery threshold is under real pressure. Model the delivery threshold before you touch the product price. Ecommerce operators working through that maths should start with conversion rate optimisation, because a threshold change alters basket behaviour faster, and more reversibly, than a percentage increase does.
On paid media, budget for tighter wallets without assuming a collapse. Our earlier finding that 59% of Britons are still cutting back on non-essentials is not overturned by these figures. If anything a 23.0% motor fuel rate keeps that caution in place through the golden quarter. Expect cost per acquisition to hold up while conversion softens on high-ticket discretionary lines. That argues for defending Google Ads spend on high-intent, in-market search terms and pulling back on broad prospecting, rather than an across-the-board cut that costs you the demand still in the market.
Two things to watch before Q4 budgets are locked. The services rate, unmoved at 3.6%, is still the number the Bank of England weighs most heavily. If it eases while goods stay hot, rate cuts stay live and confidence improves into 2027. If it does not, the squeeze runs longer than the oil price does. And check your own category rather than the headline: at a 3.1% average, some divisions are running at 5.3% (communication) and 5.1% (education) while others sit near zero, so the inflation your customers actually feel depends entirely on what you sell them.
How they got the data
The consumer price indices are built from prices collected manually from outlets around the country, prices gathered centrally over the internet and by telephone, and, since February 2026, scanner data taken from supermarket checkouts and online baskets. The traditionally sourced prices in this release were collected on or around 11 August 2026. The index covers the basket of goods and services bought by UK households, weighted by household expenditure shares, and CPI is produced to international standards based on the regulations for the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices.
CPIH is the ONS's most comprehensive measure because it adds owner occupiers' housing costs and Council Tax. That component accounts for approximately 18% of CPIH and explains most of the gap between the two headline rates. CPI is the measure used in the government's inflation target, which is why it is the figure the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is judged against. Two caveats carry into any use of the release: the ONS has flagged a minor product classification error in its scanner dataset from February 2026, which it states has no impact on published headline growth rates for CPI, CPIH or RPI, and some air fare prices in the transport division were collected before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict on 28 February 2026, so the long-haul comparison is not like for like.
Government · UK
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From Office for National Statistics · published 16/09/2026