Prices for milk, cheese, and eggs are rising at their fastest rate in 45 years.
In October, food prices were 16.2% higher than at the same time last year. In September, they were 14.5% higher.
Since 1981, the price of energy and fuel have also gone up a lot, which has caused the overall inflation rate to go up.
The cost of living is rising, so many people have trouble making ends meet.
The ONS said it was hardest on low-income households because they spent about half of their income on food and energy, while middle-income households spent about a third.
Inflation was 11.1% in October, the highest rate in the past 41 years. This is up from September when the rate was 10.1%.
In Thursday’s Autumn Statement, Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, is expected to say that billions of pounds and taxes will cut public spending will go up by billions of pounds.
Hunt will try to stop price from rising
Mr. Hunt said that his plans would try to stop prices from going up and up. But he also said that to get the economy back on track, he would have to make “tough but necessary decisions.”
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) keeps track of the prices of hundreds of everyday items to figure out how much it costs to live. With inflation, you can find out how much it costs to live.
According to the ONS, milk, pasta, margarine, eggs, and cereal prices increased significantly in October.
Even though bills went up again last month, gas and electricity prices are still the main reasons for inflation.
The Energy Price Guarantee did slow down these price hikes, keeping the average household bill at about £2,500 a year.
But the ONS said that gas and electricity prices are still about 130% and 66% higher than they were a year ago.
But it said inflation would have gone up to 13.8% if the government hadn’t helped.
Greg Pilley started the Stroud Brewery & Taproom in Gloucestershire, which sells beer to pubs and shops. He told the BBC that the costs of running his business had increased by 10%.
Because of the Ukraine war and the COVID pandemic, energy and food prices have gone up since last year.
As prices have increased, workers in many industries have asked for raises to keep up with the living cost. Some industries, like the railroad, have even gone on strike.
But some economists think October’s inflation rate of 11.1% could be the highest.
Paul Dales, the head UK economist at Capital Economics, said prices could go down if the government keeps freezing energy prices.
The Bank of England and interest rates
The Bank of England has raised interest rates to 3% to slow down inflation. It hopes that if people have to pay more to borrow money, they will spend less, demand will go down, and price increases will slow down.
But because interest rates are going up, so are the costs of mortgages and other loans.
The UK economy is slowing down because people don’t have as much money to spend. By the end of the year, there will likely be a recession.
From July to September, the economy shrank by 0.2%, and the Bank of England said the UK is in for a rough two years.
When an economy shrinks for two sets of three months in a row, this is called a recession. In the same way, when companies make less money and unemployment goes up, it’s a sign that the economy isn’t doing well.
Prices are going up in many places around the world. For example, Germany’s rate is higher than the UK’s at 11.6%. And prices in the US went up by 7.7% in the year leading up to October.
But the UK’s economy is doing worse than other large countries. And it is smaller now than before the COVID pandemic.
