Consumer prices in Britain rose to 3% in September from a year earlier (Reuters).
British inflation surged to a five-year high in September, boosting the probability that the Bank of England will raise interest rates next month, official data showed on Monday.
Consumer prices rose last month by 3 percent from a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics, to match economists' median forecast in a Reuters survey, the fastest increase since April 2012.
Food and transportation costs helped push inflation up in September, the Office for National Statistics said.
The core consumer price index remained unchanged at 2.7 percent, as predicted by the Reuters survey.
The rise in inflation – largely driven by the fall of the pound since last year's vote on Britain's exit from the EU – has put pressure on household income, slowing economic growth in general, at a time when wages are unable to cope with rising costs of living.
But the Bank of England said last month it expected interest rates to rise in the coming months if the economy continued to grow and price pressures rose.
The Bank of England said last month it expected inflation to exceed 3 percent in October, up from a month ago at just 2 percent.