UK inflation accelerates in September 2026, with CPI at 3.5%
UK annual CPI inflation rose to 3.5% in September 2026 from 3.1% in August, while CPIH increased to 3.6% from 3.3%. Both measures have risen at each monthly observation since June.
UK consumer price inflation accelerated in September 2026, extending the rise in annual rates seen since June. The Office for National Statistics figures show the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose 3.5% over 12 months, compared with 3.1% in August. The annual rate for CPIH, which includes owner occupiers' housing costs and council tax, increased to 3.6% from 3.3%.
The September readings were the highest for both measures over April–September 2026. Inflation had eased in June, when CPI reached 2.6% and CPIH 2.8%, before both annual rates rose in July, August and September. That sequence strengthens the evidence of renewed acceleration over this period, rather than an isolated September increase, although it does not establish how long the pattern will persist.
CPI's annual rate increased by 0.4 percentage points between August and September, while CPIH's rose by 0.3 percentage points. These are changes in 12-month inflation rates, not measures of prices rising during September alone. The agreement in direction shows the acceleration is visible under both headline measures. It does not, by itself, establish whether price pressure increased across a wide range of goods and services.
CPIH remained above CPI, but the difference narrowed in September as CPI accelerated more sharply. The measures have different coverage: CPI excludes the owner occupiers' housing costs and council tax included in CPIH. Their relative movements therefore provide a useful comparison of the headline inflation picture, but cannot identify which categories drove September's increase without component evidence.
For households, the renewed rise in annual inflation points to a stronger year-on-year price squeeze, not simply the continuation of rising prices at an unchanged pace. If nominal income growth does not keep up, purchasing power weakens and households may have less room for real spending. The positive rates also mean the overall price level remains above a year earlier; the earlier easing in inflation did not mean prices had fallen.
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