Consumer price inflation UK December 2025 Rise To 3.4%

21st January 2026

The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) rose by 3.6% in the 12 months to December 2025, up from 3.5% in the 12 months to November.

On a monthly basis, CPIH rose by 0.4% in December 2025, compared with a rise of 0.3% in December 2024.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 3.4% in the 12 months to December 2025, up from 3.2% in the 12 months to November.

On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.4% in December 2025, compared with a rise of 0.3% in December 2024.

Alcohol and tobacco, and transport made the largest upward contributions to the monthly change in both CPIH and CPI annual rates.
Core CPIH (CPIH excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco) rose by 3.5% in the 12 months to December 2025, the same rate as the 12 months to November; the CPIH goods annual rate rose from 2.1% to 2.2%, while the CPIH services annual rate remained at 4.5%.

Core CPI (CPI excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco) rose by 3.2% in the 12 months to December 2025, the same rate as the 12 months to November; the CPI goods annual rate rose from 2.1% to 2.2%, while the CPI services annual rate rose from 4.4% to 4.5%.

The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) rose by 3.6% in the 12 months to December 2025, up from 3.5% in the 12 months to November (Figure 1).

On a monthly basis, CPIH rose by 0.4% in December 2025, compared with a rise of 0.3% in December 2024.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 3.4% in the 12 months to December 2025, up from 3.2% in the 12 months to November.

On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.4% in December 2025, compared with a rise of 0.3% in December 2024.

The main drivers of the annual inflation rate for CPIH and CPI are the same where they are common to both measures. However, the owner occupiers' housing (OOH) costs component accounts for approximately 17% of the CPIH and is the main driver for differences between the CPIH and CPI inflation rates. This makes CPIH our most comprehensive measure of inflation.

Alcohol and tobacco
Prices in the alcohol and tobacco division rose by 5.2% in the 12 months to December 2025, up from 4.0% in the 12 months to November. On a monthly basis, prices rose by 1.0% in December 2025, compared with a fall of 0.2% a year ago.

The rise in the 12-month rate reflected an upward effect from tobacco. Tobacco duty was increased on 26 November 2025, whereas in 2024 it was increased on 30 October. This timing difference may help explain why prices fell by 0.1% in November 2025, compared with a rise of 3.3% a year before, and then subsequently rose by 3.0% in December 2025, compared with a rise of 0.7% a year before.

Transport
Prices in the transport division rose overall by 4.0% in the 12 months to December 2025, up from 3.7% in the 12 months to November. On a monthly basis, prices rose by 1.3% in December 2025, compared with a rise of 1.0% a year ago.

The largest upward effect came from air fares, which rose by 28.6% in December 2025. However, air fares rose by 16.2% last year, the third-lowest December rise since monthly price collection began in 2001. Part of the reason for the lower-than-usual growth in 2024 may have been because the return date for European flights in December 2024 was Christmas Eve and the return date for long-haul flights was New Year's Eve. In contrast, the return date for European flights in December 2025 was 23 December and the return date for long-haul flights was 30 December.

Motor fuels had a negligible effect. The average price of petrol rose by 1.3 pence per litre between November and December 2025, compared with a rise of 1.5 pence per litre between November and December 2024. The average price stood at 136.3 pence per litre in December 2025, the same price it was a year earlier.

Similarly, diesel prices rose by 1.9 pence per litre in December 2025, compared with a rise of 2.1 pence per litre in December 2024. The average price stood at 145.7 pence per litre in December 2025, up from 142.6 pence per litre a year earlier. These movements resulted in overall motor fuel prices rising by 0.9% in the 12 months to December 2025, compared with a rise of 1.0% in the 12 months to November.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages
Food and non-alcoholic beverages prices rose by 4.5% in the 12 months to December 2025, up from 4.2% in the 12 months to November (Figure 3). On a monthly basis, food and non-alcoholic beverages prices rose by 0.8% in December 2025, compared with a rise of 0.5% a year ago.

ousing and household services
The 12-month inflation rate for housing and household services was 4.6% in December 2025, down from 4.8% in November. On a monthly basis, prices rose by 0.2% in December 2025, compared with a rise of 0.4% a year ago.

The easing in the 12-month rate between November and December 2025 mainly reflected a downward effect from owner occupiers' housing (OOH) costs. These rose by 4.2% in the 12 months to December 2025, compared with a rise of 4.5% in the 12 months to November. The rate has slowed for 11 consecutive months and is at its lowest since May 2023, when it was also 4.2%. Monthly OOH costs rose by 0.2% in December 2025, compared with a 0.6% increase a year ago.

Read the full ONS report HERE