UK vs EU inflation: Rising fuel prices push Britain and bloc to record levels

The latest figures for the UK show that inflation is measured at seven percent, replicating levels previously seen during 1992. Inflation is the rate at which prices are rising and the bad news for embattled Brits already feeling the financial pinch is that experts predict things to get even worse before they start to recover.

Between February and March, the consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation grew from 6.2 to seven percent.

Rising fuel prices were blamed as the biggest contributor for this development, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Average prices climbed 12.6p in that period, which represents the largest monthly growth since records began in 1990.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has served to exacerbate these issues, with a number of countries reducing their imports from Moscow and thus swelling prices elsewhere.

READ MORE: Brexit POLL: Do you regret leaving EU after academic’s warning? VOTE

How can you tackle inflation?

In Britain, the traditional response of the BoE to rising inflation is to raise interest rates.

The idea is that when borrowing is more expensive, people will have less money to spend. As a result, they will buy fewer things and prices will stop rising as fast.

But when inflation is caused by external forces, such as rising global energy prices, then there is a limit as to how effective interest rate rises can be in curbing inflation.