Written question asked by Lord Steinberg (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord McKenzie of Luton (Labour) on Monday, 9 October 2006 on behalf of the Office for National Statistics.

Inflation

Question: What was the overall rate of inflation in 2005; and what is their estimate of the overall rate of inflation in 2006.

Answer: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply. Letter from the Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market, Colin Mowl, dated 14 September 2006. The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, concerning what was the overall rate of inflation in 2005; and what is the estimate of the overall rate of inflation in 2006. I am replying in her absence. (HL7357). There are two main measures of inflation produced by the Office for National Statistics, the consumer prices index (CPI) which forms the basis for the Government's inflation target and the retail prices index (RPI) whose many uses includes indexation of state benefits and pensions. The percentage change over 12 months in the annual average index in 2005 for the CPI is 2.1 per cent. The corresponding figure for the RPI is 2.8 per cent. The latest estimate of inflation in 2006 is for July when the rate of CPI inflation was 2.4 per cent and the rate of RPI inflation was 3.3 per cent.

Secondary information