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Inflation

A closer look at the impact of inflation on people, businesses, accountancy and the wider economy, bringing together the best expert opinion, data and analysis from ICAEW and its members.

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Inflation: 75 years of ups and downs

  • Article
  • 06 Jul 2022
What can decades of inflation data tell us about the current economic situation? ICAEW’s interactive graphic sheds light on the likely outlook.
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Latest

Article
13 Jun 2023
How does high inflation impact savings and pensions?

Inflation is finally starting to come down in the UK, but not as fast as hoped. That isn’t great news for pensions – but neither is it a complete disaster.

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Article
24 May 2023
Inflation turns corner and could force interest rate rethink

Official data reveals that UK inflation moved back into single digits in April, but food inflation remains near record high.

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Article
20 Apr 2023
Easing inflation may force interest rate voting split

Official data reveals that UK inflation remains in double digits, despite slowing in March. The slowdown in March was mainly driven by the continued fall in fuel prices. However, this was largely offset by rising food prices.

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Article
22 Mar 2023
Surprise inflation rise causes interest rate headache

Official data reveals that UK inflation rose for the first time in six months in February amid vegetable shortages, leaving the Bank of England with a tough decision on interest rates.

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Article
15 Feb 2023
Pitiful drop in January highlights continued inflation challenge

Suren Thiru, Economics Director at ICAEW, responds to the UK inflation figures for January 2023, released by the Office for National Statistics today (Wednesday 15 February 2023).

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Article
18 Jan 2023
Slowing inflation not easing the cost of living crisis

Official data reveals that UK inflation slowed for the second successive month in December as fuel prices continued to fall.

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Article
14 Dec 2022
Painful deceleration on the way as inflation slows

Official data from the Office for National Statistics reveals that UK inflation slowed slightly to 10.7% in November, but still the second highest rate since August 1980.

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Guide
8 Dec 2022
How high inflation impacts accounting

Guidance from ICAEW’s Financial Reporting Faculty explores the impact of high inflation on accounting and considers the financial reporting implications and related uncertainties that entities will need to think about.

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Article
19 Oct 2022
Scaling back of energy support risks renewed inflation surge

The latest official estimate from the Office for National Statistics reveals that UK inflation accelerated to 10.1% in September as food prices soar.

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Article
07 Oct 2022
How can hospitality companies tough out inflation?

As research shows that two-thirds of the UK’s Top 100 restaurant businesses are losing money, we look at what hospitality companies can do to survive rising inflation.

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Article
28 Sep 2022
An inflated sense of worth: what inflation means for savers

A fall in headline inflation to 9.9% in August down slightly from 10.1% in July is likely to be a transient moment of calm in a continuing storm. So what does rising inflation mean for pension savers and other investors?

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Article
14 Sep 2022
August’s dip in inflation a ‘temporary distortion’, says ICAEW

Latest official estimate revealed that UK inflation slowed to 9.9% in August, amid strong base effects and lower fuel prices.

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Article
17 Aug 2022
Higher food prices push UK inflation into double digits

Latest official estimates reveal that UK inflation rose to 10.1% in July, the highest rate since February 1982, and experts say it has yet to peak.

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Article
09 Aug 2022
UK businesses keen to invest are held back by inflation

About 66% of businesses plan to seek funding for business investment, according to research, while the same number have been negatively affected by rising inflation.

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Article
28 Jul 2022
ICAEW: Middle East offsets inflation with rising oil prices

Middle East GDP growth in 2022 is projected at 5.2%, an increase of one percentage point on Oxford Economics’ forecast in the first quarter, following inflated oil prices

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Article
26 Jul 2022
Auditing with inflation on the rise

Inflation has only been above 3% twice in the last 30 years. Auditors will need to understand the impacts. We outline some of the key areas of the audit that may be affected by inflation.

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Table
21 Jul 2022
Inflation adds fuel to the deficit as cost of borrowing soars

Economic pressures mount as the public sector deficit reaches £55bn in the first three months of the fiscal year.

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Article
20 Jul 2022
UK inflation reaches new 40-year high

Latest official GDP estimate revealed UK inflation UK inflation rose for ninth month in a row in June, amid higher petrol and food prices.

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Podcast
18 Jul 2022
Recession? What recession? Time for business to stop worrying and start investing

Iain Wright, ICAEW’s Managing Director, Reputation and Influence is joined by Kitty Ussher, Chief Economist at the Institute of Directors, and Suren Thiru, ICAEW’s Director, Economies.

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Podcast
14 Jul 2022
The pain – and potential gains – of rising inflation

On this ICAEW Insights podcast episode, we speak to Martin Wheatcroft about rising inflation and what that means for businesses, plus capital allowances reforms.

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Article
14 Jul 2022
Stronger-than-expected growth masks growing challenges

Latest official GDP estimate confirms that the UK economy rebounded in May after shrinking in April, as GP appointments boost the headline figure.

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Article
27 Jun 2022
Five strategies to weather the inflation storm

ICAEW Manufacturing Community member Katy Davies runs through her five-point plan to help bolster businesses against a backdrop of rising inflation.

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Article
21 Jun 2022
BoE: further rate increase is necessary to rein in inflation

The Bank of England’s chief economist warns inflation will be no quick fix and to expect further interest rate increases to achieve its objective of getting inflation back to 2%.

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Insight from firms

Article
One of PwC's office buildings 05 Aug 2022
PwC examines accountants’ role as inflation soars

Using ICAEW inflation data, PwC UK Senior Economist Barret Kupelian assesses influential factors contributing to historically high inflation and explores what this means for businesses and the role of accountants.

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Article
One of Mazars' offices 12 Jul 2022
Mazars: deflation is dependent on multiple global economies

From ending war to kickstarting manufacturing, George Lagarias, Chief Economist at Mazars, examines how global markets have dealt with inflation during the 20th century, adding what we can learn from their experience.

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Article
08 Jul 2022
RSM: inflation spike harks back to post-war peak

ICAEW’s graphic highlights similarities between post-pandemic and post-Second World War inflation, say Thomas Pugh and Simon Hart from RSM, who explain what businesses should be doing to mitigate the effects.

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Article
EY 07 Jul 2022
EY: inflation inevitable after the pandemic

Using ICAEW inflation data, EY UK Chief Economist Peter Arnold assesses key drivers behind rising inflation over the past seven decades and predicts how this current wave of high inflation looks set to pan out.

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Charts and tables

Chart
chart 01 Jun 2023
Chart of the week: Consumer price inflation

Our chart illustrates how ‘core inflation’, energy price rises, and food, alcohol and tobacco price inflation contributed to a lower than expected fall in the overall rate of inflation in April 2023.

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Chart
chart11may 11 May 2023
Chart of the week: Food prices

An inflation rate of 10.1% in the year to March 2023 conceals a huge variation in individual price rises, as illustrated by this week’s chart on food prices.

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Chart
chart16feb 17 Feb 2023
Chart of the week: Slowing inflation

This chart illustrates the slowing rate of inflation and how it should fall further once a big surge in prices between February and April 2022 falls out of the comparison.

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Chart
chart20oct 21 Oct 2022
Chart of the week: Consumer Price Inflation

This chart looks at how the benchmark percentage, used to determine the rise in the state pension and many welfare benefits from next April, reached 10.1% in September 2022.

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Table
Table of figures 21 Jul 2022
Inflation adds fuel to the deficit as cost of borrowing soars

Economic pressures mount as the public sector deficit reaches £55bn in the first three months of the fiscal year.

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Chart
chart26may 26 May 2022
Chart of the week: Inflation around the world

This week we look at how inflation is racing upwards across the world, with the UK reporting in April one of the highest rates of increase among developed countries.

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