Vegetable Shortages Drive Unexpected Rise in UK Inflation

A customer shops for food items inside a Tesco supermarket store in east London, on Jan. 10, 2022. Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

Inflation in the UK rose unexpectedly last month as vegetable shortages pushed food prices to their highest rate in more than 45 years, official figures show.

According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 10.4 percent in the 12 months to February 2023, up from 10.1 percent in January but below a recent peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022.