UK inflation slows to 2.8% as energy price cap softens impact of rising fuel costs

Key points

• UK inflation slowed to 2.8% in April, the lowest rate in more than a year, as a reduction in the household energy price cap helped soften the sharp rise in fuel costs since the start of the Iran war.
• The Office for Statistics (ONS) said the consumer prices index measure of inflation eased from March’s reading of 3.3%, suggesting the impact of the Iran war has not yet hit UK households as much as feared, despite prices at the pumps rising at the fastest rate in nearly four years.
• The reading beat economists’ forecasts of a decline to 3% and was the lowest rate since March 2025. The fall was partly down to Ofgem’s lower energy price cap, which reduced the typical annual dual-fuel bill in Great Britain to £1,641 from April – a fall of £117. Electricity prices dropped 8.4% in April, the ONS said.
• The slowdown in the...