UK inflation surged to its highest level for more than a year last month after households were hit by a raft of “awful April” bill increases, official figures have revealed.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation hit 3.5% in April, up from 2.6% in March and the highest since January 2024.
Economists had been expecting a rise to 3.3% last month.
It comes after Ofgem’s energy price cap rose by 6.4% in April, having fallen a year earlier, alongside a raft of bill rises for under-pressure households, including steep increases to water charges, council tax, mobile and broadband tariffs.
ONS acting director-general Grant Fitzner said: “Significant increases in household bills caused inflation to climb steeply.
“Gas and electricity bills rose this month compared with sharp falls at the same time last year due to changes to the Ofgem energy price cap.
“Water and sewerage bills also rose strongly this year, as did vehicle excise duty, which all pushed the headline rate up to its highest level since the beginning of last year.”
