The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for compiling and publishing the UK’s official inflation metrics on a monthly basis 2, 4 . Typically released on a Wednesday mid-month, these publications are among the most highly anticipated economic releases in the UK. They directly influence monetary policy decisions by the Bank of England, impact financial markets, and dictate adjustments to public spending, tax brackets, pensions, and state benefits 1, 2 .

The ONS currently produces three primary measures of consumer price inflation 2, 4 :

• CPI (Consumer Prices Index):

  The internationally comparable measure of inflation, which also serves as the target index for the Bank of England’s 2% inflation target 2, 4 .

• CPIH (Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs):

  The ONS’s lead and most comprehensive measure of UK inflation 2, 4 . It extends the standard CPI framework by incorporating housing costs for owner-occupiers (via rental equivalence) and Council Tax 2, 4 .

• RPI (Retail Prices Index)

  A legacy measure first introduced in 1947 2 . While the ONS stripped RPI of its “National Statistic” status in 2013 due to methodological flaws, it continues to be published because of its ongoing use in legacy financial contracts, index-linked gilts, and older pension schemes 2, 3, 4 .

The ONS’s reporting is highly regarded for its transparency, extensive metadata, and rigorous data-gathering processes 4 . However, because it publishes multiple competing indices, users must be cautious about which metric they select for economic modeling and indexation.

Referenced internet pages dealing with ONS (Office of National Statistics) on-line information:

• 1 – What are the Retails Price Index and Consumer Prices Index? (from : www.eddisons.com)
• 2 – CPI vs RPI inflation: what is the difference between ONS measures? (from : moneyweek.com)
• 3 – ONS – Consumer price inflation time series (from : www.ons.gov.uk)
• 4 – ONS – Consumer Price Inflation (includes all 3 indices – CPIH, CPI and RPI) QMI (from : www.ons.gov.uk)