“Rising food prices made the largest upward contribution to the change in annual inflation rates between June and July 2022,” the agency said.

“Indicative modelled consumer price inflation estimates suggest that the Consumer Price Index rate would last have been higher around 1982, where estimates range from nearly 11% in January down to approximately 6.5% in December,” the agency added.

With annual inflation approaching a 40-year high of 11%, the central bank of the United Kingdom gradually increased the base rate to 1.25% during the first half of 2022.

The UK was not alone: in the year to May 2022, headline consumer prices rose by 10% across the Eurozone and 14% in the United States. (ILKHA)