Euro 2016 kicks up UK inflation to 0.5% in June

By Euronews

Published on 19/07/2016 - 15:40

Inflation in Britain was boosted in June by more expensive airfares as football fans flew to France for the Euro 2016 championships.

Inflation in Britain is not exactly flying high, but it did get a boost in June from more expensive airfares as football fans flocked to France for the Euro 2016 championships.

The cost of plane tickets jumped by a record 10.9 percent between May and June which helped consumer prices rise by a bigger than expected 0.5 percent compared with June last year, the Office for National Statistics said.

ONS's Phil Gooding comments on the latest CPI #inflation stats out this morning: pic.twitter.com/rSFtFWBwFt
— ONS (@ONS) July 19, 2016

Inflation is set to pick up soon following the referendum vote for Britain to leave the European Union. The Bank of England expects inflation will rise because the falling value of the pound following the Brexit decision will push up import costs,

Economists at banks based in London have forecast inflation could peak as high as five percent next year, cutting purchasing power.

June #CPI still relatively low in historic context at 0.5% https://t.co/1HqGFjJsPj pic.twitter.com/qsI7DhKS0h
— James Tucker (@ONSJames) July 19, 2016

The ONS also released figures for May house prices, which showed an 8.1 percent annual rise across the United Kingdom as a whole, the same as during April.

Prices in London alone rose 13.6 percent, not as fast as earlier this year. Housing surveyors have said they expect house prices to fall after the shock of the EU referendum result.