Description
The United Kingdom's Consumer Price Index (CPI) is calculated and published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), measuring the price changes of goods and services purchased by consumers over a period of time. The Core CPI excludes volatile items such as food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco. The CPIH includes owner occupiers' housing costs (OOH) in the consumer price index.
Typically, Year-on-Year (YoY) growth rate of the CPI and Core CPI are important indicators for assessing whether the economy is overheating and the appropriateness of the central bank's monetary policy. The CPIH further includes housing costs, particularly the rental equivalence for owner-occupied housing, making it a more comprehensive reflection of consumers' actual living costs. The Bank of England currently targets a 2% inflation rate to ensure stable economic growth.
CPI, Core CPI, and CPIH data are typically released in the middle of each month, providing information on the price changes of the previous month.
Note: The difference between Seasonally Adjusted (SA) and Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA) data is that SA data is adjusted to eliminate the effects of seasonal patterns, providing a clearer view of long-term trends and underlying economic conditions.