Prices rose by more than 8% during 2022

Over the year the biggest prices rises came on food, leisure service, housing and fuel.

All groups in the RPI 'basket' saw price increases in the last three months to December, except leisure goods.

The biggest rises from among the 14 groups were in food and catering – both of which increased by about 3% in the final quarter.

‘There were several fruit and vegetable price increases this quarter, including kiwi, grapes and tomatoes, as well as increases in the prices of many other food items, notably block butter, cheese, quiche and soups,’ the report stated.

‘The catering group increased by 3.1% for all the RPIs during the latest quarter. There were increases in the prices of some pub and restaurant meals and in some take-away food items, such as soft drinks, coffee and sandwiches.

Alcohol prices also went up, with rises in particular for canned stout and some spirits.

Mortgage interest increases drove an increase in housing costs, while a small increase in kerosene affected the fuel and light inflation.

The leisure goods group decreased by 0.4% during the latest quarter.

There were increases in the prices of computer games and musical instruments, but reductions in the prices of other items, including PCs, sleeping bags, board games and digital radios.

Last year a new set of household costs indices was added to better understand the differences in rates of price inflation between different types of households.

Overall on average across all households, they saw a rise in 8.4%.

Households without mortgages and those with one or more retired person had the highest HCIs increases, at 9.4% and 9.2%.

Social renters and partial owner households was the HCI with the lowest overall increase.

The calculations of the RPIs and HCIs are based on the price change of items within a ‘shopping basket’ of goods and services containing over 1,700 items.