British inflation rate remains at 1.5 pct in November

Source: Xinhua | 2019-12-19

The consumer prices index (CPI) in Britain hit 1.5 percent in November 2019, unchanged from last month, the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Wednesday.

Data from the ONS showed that housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels made the largest contribution to the inflation increase.

The largest downward contributions came from accommodation services and tobacco, the ONS said.

Yael Selfin, Chief Economist at KPMG UK, said the inflation rate "at well below the Bank of England's target gives it more leeway to act next year."

Meanwhile, figures revealed that the average house price across Britain was 233,000 pounds (about 305,439 U.S. dollars) in October 2019, down by 0.7 percent from September 2019.

"House price growth in the UK has generally slowed since mid-2016," said the ONS.

"While house prices in London continued to fall over the year," stated the ONS, "the area remains the most expensive place to purchase a property, at an average of 472,000 pounds." (1 pound = 1.31 U.S. dollars)