UK inflation falls to 2.8% as energy bills drop but petrol prices hit four-year high
UK inflation fell to 2.8% in the year to April 2026, its lowest level since March 2025, official figures have shown.
The Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation was down from 3.3% in the year to March, the Office for National Statistics said.
The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs, the ONS’s most comprehensive measure, fell to 3.0% from 3.4% over the same period.
The biggest factor in the fall was a drop in electricity and gas prices.
Electricity prices were 8.4% lower in April 2026 than a year earlier, compared with a rise of 2.9% in the year to April 2025.
Gas prices fell by 4.4% over the same period, compared with a rise of 7.5% a year earlier.
The ONS said the fall reflected a reduction in the Ofgem energy price cap and a UK Government announcement that took an average of £150 off bills from April through changes to per-unit prices.
The Ofgem cap fell because global wholesale energy prices were lower during the regulator’s assessment period of 15 November 2025 to 13 February 2026.
That period ended before the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East.
The energy regulator estimated the change works out at an annual bill of £1,641 for an average household paying by direct debit for dual fuel, a fall of £117.
The picture was very different at petrol stations.
The average price of petrol rose by 16.6 pence per litre between March and April 2026, compared with a fall of 3.0 pence per litre over the same period in 2025.
Petrol stood at 156.8 pence per litre in April 2026, its highest level since November 2022, when prices reached 163.6 pence during the war in Ukraine.
Diesel rose by 31.3 pence per litre between March and April 2026, reaching 190.0 pence per litre, its highest level since July 2022.
Across the 12 months to April, motor fuel prices were up 23.0%, the highest annual rate of increase since September 2022.
The ONS recorded other smaller changes.
Domestic heating oil, which is not subject to a price cap and is widely used in rural homes off the gas grid, rose by 8.5% in April 2026, compared with a fall of 7.7% a year earlier.
Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 3.0% over the year, down from 3.7% in the 12 months to March.
Restaurant and hotel prices rose 4.4%, up from 4.0%.
Core inflation, which strips out energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, fell to 2.5%, its lowest level since July 2021.
The UK’s inflation rate of 2.8% was below the flash estimate for Germany of 2.9%, the first time UK inflation has been below Germany’s since December 2024.
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