Britain’s annual inflation rate drops to 2.8 percent

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

Shoppers walk with bags along Oxford Street in London in this file photo. AP photo

British 12-month inflation fell to a rate of 2.8 percent in May - the lowest level for more than two years, official data showed yesterday.

The annual inflation rate dropped from a level of 3 percent in April to reach the lowest point since November 2009, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

Price increases for food, fuels and energy had been substantially weaker in May compared with 12 months earlier, the ONS said. Analysts’ expectations had been for the annual rate to remain at 3 percent, according to a poll by Dow Jones Newswires. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) meanwhile dipped by 0.1 percent in May on a month-on-month basis, the ONS added.