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UK inflation in September 2026: your questions answered

The UK's annual consumer price inflation rate rose to 3.5% in September 2026, from 3.1% in August.

Published 2 min read

  • 2026-083.1%
  • 2026-093.5%
United Kingdom consumer price inflation (12-month change) · Office for National Statistics (UK)

UK Consumer price inflation →

What changed in September 2026?

For an ordinary household, prices in September 2026 were 3.5% higher than a year earlier. That is the 12-month change in the UK's consumer price index.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

In August 2026 the same 12-month rate was 3.1%. The rate therefore rose by 0.4 percentage points between the two months.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

What exactly do the official figures measure?

The headline figure compares the price level in one month with the same month a year before. It is not a month-on-month change. A higher 12-month rate means prices are up more on the year than they were when August's figure was measured.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

A wider measure, CPIH, adds the housing costs of people who own their homes. Its 12-month change was 3.6% in September 2026. CPIH and the headline consumer price index are built differently, so the two rates are not the same measure.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

A separate series tracks food prices on their own. Its 12-month change was 1.3% in September 2026. It covers a narrower set of goods and is not a direct counterpart to the headline rate.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

How does this compare with the previous month?

The only like-for-like comparison available here is with August 2026. The 12-month rate went from 3.1% to 3.5%, a rise of 0.4 percentage points.

Sources for this paragraph (3)

The facts provided do not include figures for other countries or for earlier months, so a longer trend cannot be shown.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

What does it mean for people living in the UK?

Across the country, the goods and services in the consumer price basket cost 3.5% more in September 2026 than a year earlier.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

Average weekly earnings grew by 3.7% over 12 months, on a 3-month average basis, in the period to August 2026. This is a different statistic, covering a different period, so it cannot be set directly against the September inflation rate.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.7% in July 2026. The UK's central bank policy rate stood at 3.75% at the end of September 2026.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

What do the figures not tell us?

The facts here do not say which goods or services drove the rise in the 12-month rate. They also contain no breakdown by region or household type.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

Only two months of the headline series are available in this report, so one rise does not establish a lasting trend.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

Scenarios to watch

  • Scenario, not a forecast If the 12-month rate for October 2026 comes in above 3.5%, the September rise would look like the start of a climb rather than a one-off.
  • Scenario, not a forecast If the October rate falls back towards August's 3.1%, September's rise would look more like a short-lived move.
  • Scenario, not a forecast If CPIH and the headline rate continue to move together, the owner occupiers' housing costs component would not be adding much difference between the two measures.

What to check next

  • The October 2026 consumer price inflation (12-month change) figure
  • The next CPIH reading, to see whether it stays close to the headline rate
  • The next release of average weekly earnings growth
  • The UK central bank policy rate at the end of October 2026
  • The next seasonally adjusted unemployment rate

Verified data used in this report

IndicatorValuePeriodSourcesAccessed
F1United Kingdom consumer price inflation (12-month change)3.5%2026-09Office for National Statistics (UK)
F2United Kingdom consumer price inflation (12-month change)3.1%2026-08Office for National Statistics (UK)
F3Change from previous period (percentage points)0.4pp2026-09Office for National Statistics (UK)
C23United Kingdom GDP growth (annual %)1.39%2025World Bank
C24United Kingdom Unemployment, total (% of labour force, ILO modelled estimate)4.75%2025World Bank
C25United Kingdom Fertility rate, total (births per woman)1.552024World Bank
C26United Kingdom Population aged 65 and above (% of total population)19.7%2025World Bank
C27United Kingdom Population growth (annual %)0.3%2025World Bank
C28United Kingdom central bank policy rate (month-end)3.75%2026-09Bank of England
C30United Kingdom CPIH inflation, including owner occupiers' housing costs (12-month change)3.6%2026-09Office for National Statistics (UK)
C31United Kingdom food price inflation (12-month change)1.3%2026-09Office for National Statistics (UK)
C32United Kingdom unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted)4.7%2026-07Office for National Statistics (UK)
C33United Kingdom average weekly earnings growth (3-month average, 12-month change)3.7%2026-08Office for National Statistics (UK)

Sources

  • Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 — license
  • Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) — license
  • Source: Bank of England, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 — license

How this report was checked

  • Data: the newest reference period cited is 2026-09.
  • Figures were collected from the source on
  • Written by an AI model (claude-opus-5-5) using only the official figures listed in this report.
  • Automatic checks passed: every number matches a cited figure, every paragraph names its evidence, and there is no investment advice or copied source text.
  • A separate quality-check model raised concerns, and the report was rewritten once to address them.
  • No person reviewed this report before publication. Automatic checks confirm the numbers, not every interpretation.
  • The report has been regenerated 1 time(s); see the update history.
Update history
  • 2026-10-27 08:01 UTC — created
  • 2026-10-29 14:30 UTC — regenerated
  • 2026-10-29 14:30 UTC — approved+published

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