A Century of UK Inflation

The post-pandemic inflation spike to 11.1% in October 2022 shocked a generation accustomed to the Bank of England's 2% target. However, looking back over a century of ONS data reveals that high inflation is historically common.

The 1970s saw inflation peak at 26.9% in August 1975, driven by the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, oil shocks, and wage-price spirals. The period of "Great Moderation" (roughly 1993 to 2007) was an anomaly, not the historical norm.