UK inflation hits 15-month high

Britain’s annual inflation rate surged more than expected in April 2025 as energy and water bills rose sharply.

The Consumer Prices Index soared to 3.5 percent in April, up from 2.6 percent in March, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement issued on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.

Analysts’ consensus forecast had been for a jump to 3.3 percent.

At 3.5 percent, the headline rate was the highest since the beginning of 2024, the ONS noted.

“I am disappointed with these figures because I know cost of living pressures are still weighing down on working people,” finance minister Rachel Reeves said.

UK regulators allowed private companies to hike household bills from April, taking into account movements in oil and gas markets and indebted water providers, AFP reported.

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“Significant increases in household bills caused inflation to climb steeply,” ONS acting director general, Grant Fitzner, said in a statement.

“Gas and electricity bills rose… compared with sharp falls at the same time last year,” Fitzner added.

He noted that “water and sewerage bills also rose strongly… as did vehicle excise duty, which all pushed the headline rate up to its highest level since the beginning of last year.”

Energy bills are expected to drop from July, however, following recent heavy falls to oil prices in the wake of United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs blitz, according to analysts.

Businesses were additionally hit in April by a tax hike and rise to the minimum wage, which both took effect last month having been introduced by the Labour government following its July election victory that ended 14 years of Conservative rule.

The Star