Accel­er­at­ing UK infla­tion has left the gap with Euro­zone price growth at its widest in nearly two years, new data showed yes­ter­day, under­scor­ing the stub­born price pres­sures con­front­ing the Bank of Eng­land.

The UK’s con­sumer prices index rose 3.8 per cent in the year to July, accord­ing to the Office for National Stat­ist­ics, an unex­pec­tedly sharp pick-up from June’s 3.6 per cent read­ing.

By con­trast, Euro­zone infla­tion held steady in the same month at 2 per cent, sep­ar­ate Euro­stat num­bers showed, with a read­ing of just 0.9 per cent in France. The 1.8 per­cent­age point gap between UK and euro area infla­tion was the widest since Septem­ber 2023.

The fig­ures under­score the chal­lenge facing the BoE as it pre­pares for infla­tion to reach as high as 4 per cent, double its offi­cial tar­get, in the com­ing months.

Wage growth is prov­ing stick­ier in the UK than in the euro area, ana­lysts said, with chan­cel­lor Rachel Reeves’ increases in employer national insur­ance con­tri­bu­tions and a boost to the liv­ing wage con­trib­ut­ing to more per­sist­ent price growth.