London June 18 2025: British inflation slowed as expected in May, pulled down by air fares which leapt in April and the correction of a tax data error, although food prices shot up at the fastest rate in more than a year.
Consumer prices rose in annual terms by 3.4% in May, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday, just as a Reuters poll of economists and the Bank of England had predicted.
Services price inflation – a crucial metric for the BoE – cooled to 4.7% from 5.4% in April, matching the BoE’s forecast for May. The Reuters poll had pointed to a reading of 4.8%.
