The consumer price index (CPI) rate of inflation jumped to 3.4 per cent in the 12 months to December 2025, according to the latest figures in the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
For the 12 months to November 2025, the CPI rate came in 3.2 per cent, which signaled an easing in inflationary pressures amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.
This comes as another blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has attempted to bolster the UK economy since Labor returned to Government in July 2024.
Economists previously predicted inflation would have ticked higher last month due to Christmas getaways helped fuel price rises at the end of the year.
The Chancellor has attempted to bolster the economy while reining in inflation
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Rob Wood and Elliott Jordan-Doak, economists for Pantheon Macroeconomics, haD previously forecast a shallower CPI rate hike to 3.3 per cent for last month.
A hike to tobacco duties, which was announced at the autumn budget by the Chancelllor in November, is set to have pushed up overall inflation over the period.
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