According to the consumer price index inflation measurement (CPI inflation), year-on-year inflation dropped to 10.5 percent in April. Analysts had expected this to stay the same as in March, at 10.6 percent, according to a comparison of prognoses carried out by Bloomberg.

Inflation according to the CPIF measurement, which removes rising interest rates on mortgages from the equation, stood at 7.6 percent in April compared with 8 percent in March, with analysts having predicted this would remain at 8 percent.

Underlying inflation, which is CPIF inflation with the cost of high energy prices removed, fell to 8.4 percent in April compared with 8.9 percent in March. Again, this was lower than expected – the average prediction from analysts for April was 8.7 percent.

Price increases in April were also lower than expected compared with the month before. Compared with March, prices went up 0.5 percent in April. This was 0.1 percent less than in March and 0.1 percent less than predicted.

April was also the first month which saw a drop in food prices since November 2021, with a dip of 1.2 percent in April compared to March.

Fruit and vegetables saw the largest price decreases, falling 3.9 percent and 5.4 percent respectively in April.

Cucumbers in particular saw a drop of 31 percent in a month, with a 5 percent drop in the last 12 months.

Despite these falls, food prices are still the largest driver of inflation on a yearly basis, with a price increase of 17.5 percent in the past year.