UK inflation fell for a second straight month in December, raising hopes that the country's worst cost-of-living crisis has eased.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Wednesday that the UK's consumer price index (CPI) rose 10.5% year-on-year in December.
The figure was slower than the 10.7% increase recorded in November and the peak of 11.1% in October.
The biggest contributor to this decline was a decline in the cost of motor fuel to 6.5% from 7.2%, along with a fall in the price of clothing and footwear from 7.5% to 6.5%.
Nevertheless, the rate of inflation is still five times higher than the central bank's target of 2%, which underlines the challenge facing the Bank of England (BOE) to remain high in reducing price pressures.
Meanwhile, core inflation (excluding energy and food prices) was reported to have increased to 6.3% year-on-year unchanged from the reading recorded the previous month.
Following this publication, the pound's initial reaction saw the currency jump 0.3% against the greenback in the European session.
