UK inflation hits fresh 30-year high

UK annual inflation has hit the highest level since 1992, data showed Wednesday, adding pressure to the cost of living and on the Bank of England to keep raising rates.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) edged up to 5.5 per cent in January from 5.4 per cent in December, also a level not seen in almost three decades, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

The rate is now at the highest level since March 1992, the ONS added.

Prices have soared globally over the past year, in large part owing to surging energy prices, while consumers are facing also higher food costs as economies reopen from pandemic lockdowns.

"We understand the pressures people are facing with the cost of living," British finance minister Rishi Sunak said in response to Wednesday's data.

"These are global challenges," he added.

As inflation reaches the highest levels in decades, lagging rises to workers' wages, central banks are deciding on how fast to hike interest rates.

The Bank of England earlier this month lifted its main interest rate for the second time in a row aimed at bringing down inflation.

The BoE has forecast Britain's annual inflation rate to peak at 7.25 per cent in April, far above its 2.0-per cent target.

The latest  "increase in CPI inflation... will add a bit more pressure on the Bank of England to continue raising interest rates rapidly", said Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.

Policymakers in December lifted borrowing costs from a record-low 0.1 per cent to 0.25 per cent -- their first tightening in more than three years.

They raised again this month, to 0.5 per cent.