Producer price inflation, UK: August 2026

• Producer input prices rose by 6.1% in the year to August 2026, up from a revised rise of 5.8% in the year to July.

• Producer output (factory gate) prices rose by 3.7% in the year to August 2026, up from a revised rise of 3.3% in the year to July.

• On a monthly basis, producer input prices rose by 0.3%, and producer output (factory gate) prices rose by 0.7% in August 2026.

• Inputs of other produced material, which include refined petroleum products, provided the largest contribution to the rise in the annual inflation rate for input prices in August 2026, with prices increasing by 2.1% on the month.

• Refined petroleum products also provided the largest contribution to the rise in the annual inflation rate for output prices in August 2026, with prices increasing by 8.6% on the month.

Producer input prices rose by 6.1% in the year to August 2026, which is up from a revised increase of 5.8% in the year to July (Figure 1). Monthly input prices rose by 0.3% in August 2026, up from a revised fall of 0.8% in July (Table 1).

Producer output (factory gate) prices rose by 3.7% in the year to August 2026, which is up from a revised increase of 3.3% in the year to July (Figure 1). Monthly output prices rose by 0.7% in August 2026, up from a revised rise of 0.4% in July (Table 1).

The largest contribution to the annual input producer price inflation rate was an upward contribution from crude oil, whose prices have risen by 26.7% in the year to August 2026. The largest contribution to the change in the annual input producer price inflation rate was an upwards contribution from inputs of other produced material, which includes refined petroleum products, where prices rose by 2.1% in August 2026. Find more detail in Section 3: Input producer prices. 

The largest contribution to the annual output producer price inflation rate was an upward contribution from outputs of coke and refined petroleum products, whose prices rose by 49.1% in the year to August 2026. These were partly offset by downward contributions from motor vehicles and food products.

Coke and refined petroleum products also provided the largest upward contribution to the change in the annual output producer price inflation rate, with prices rising by 8.6% in August 2026. Find more detail in Section 4: Output producer prices. 

The data published this month continue to be affected by the conflict in the Middle East. In particular, the revisions to the input and output PPI inflation rates (both annual and monthly) for July 2026 have been substantially influenced by revisions to the data for inputs of crude oil, and outputs of coke and refined petroleum products, respectively. For more information on the data used for oil and energy prices, go to Section 7: Data sources and quality.

Producer Price Index (PPI) estimates for both July and August 2026 are provisional. PPI figures for the latest 12 months are subject to revisions as additional survey data are returned and validated. Effective response rates at the time of first publishing can be found in Section 7: Data sources and quality.

Of the 10 product groups for the input Producer Price Index (PPI), 8 made upward contributions to the annual inflation rate in August 2026. The largest of these came from inputs of:

• crude oil

• metals and non-metallic mineral products

Input crude oil prices rose by 26.7% in the year to August 2026, unchanged from the revised increase of 26.7% in the year to July (Table 2).

The prices of inputs of metals and non-metallic mineral products rose by 8.8% in the year to August 2026, compared with a revised increase of 8.2% in the year to July (Table 2). The annual price rise in August was partly caused by increases in prices of basic iron, steel and ferro-alloys, and by non-EU imports of precious metals, in particular, silver.

The largest offsetting downward contribution to the annual inflation rate came from inputs of domestic food, where prices fell by 2.2% in the year to August 2026, down from a revised fall of 1.7% in July (Table 2). The annual price fall was partly caused by price falls in milk from dairy cattle. On a monthly basis, domestic food input prices were flat, while imported food prices rose by 0.8%.

Inputs of other produced material provided the largest contribution to the upwards change in the annual inflation rate between July and August 2026. The prices of inputs of other produced material rose by 10.4% in the year to August 2026, compared with a revised increase of 7.9% in the year to July (Table 2). On a monthly basis, prices rose by 2.1% in August 2026, up from a revised increase of 0.3% in July. The rises in both the monthly and annual inflation rates for this product group were largely caused by price increases of refined petroleum products.

Fuel covers electricity and gas (D35) and coal (B05), according to Eurostat's Classification of products by activity (CPA 2.1).

The Import Price Index (IPI) measures the price of materials and fuels imported by UK manufacturers. It rose by 6.5% in the year to August 2026, up from a revised increase of 5.4% in the year to July. On a monthly basis, import prices rose by 0.7% in August 2026, compared with a revised fall of 2.1% in July. The annual price rise was mainly caused by non-EU imports of refined petroleum products. The sterling effective exchange rate rose by 0.8% in the year to August 2026, up from a rise of 0.6% in the year to July (Table 3).

Of the 10 product groups for the output Producer Price Index (PPI), 8 made upward contributions to the annual inflation rate in August 2026. The largest of these came from:

• outputs of coke and refined petroleum products

• other outputs from manufacturing

• basic metals, fabricated metal products and machinery

Prices for coke and refined petroleum products rose by 49.1% in the year to August 2026, up from a revised rise of 35.4% in the year to July (Table 4). Petroleum products also provided the largest contribution to the upwards change in the annual inflation rate between July and August 2026. On a monthly basis, prices for this product group rose by 8.6% in August 2026, up from a revised increase of 1.1% in July.

Prices for other outputs from manufacturing rose by 3.5% in the year to August 2026, down from a revised rise of 4.5% in the year to July (Table 4). This reflected higher prices for plastic products, as input costs for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and resin saw rises attributed to the effect of the conflict in the Middle East.

Prices for basic metals, fabricated metal products and machinery rose by 5.6% in the year to August 2026, up from a revised rise of 4.9% in the year to July (Table 4). Higher prices for machining services were a main cause.

There were offsetting downwards contributions to the annual rate from:

• outputs of food products

• outputs of motor vehicles and other transport equipment

Prices for food products fell by 0.9% in the year to August 2026, down from a revised fall of 0.7% in the year to July (Table 4). This was partly caused by falls in the prices of dairy and cheese products.

Prices for motor vehicles and other transport equipment fell by 1.4% in the year to August 2026, up from a decrease of 1.6% in July (Table 4).

The Export Price Index (EPI) rose by 7.0% in the year to August 2026, up from a revised rise of 6.8% in the year to July. The annual price rise was partly caused by exports of other organic and inorganic basic chemicals. On a monthly basis, export prices rose by 0.2% in August 2026, up from a revised fall of 2.0% in July.

Contribution

As the aggregate producer prices indices are built up from individual product indices, it is possible to decompose overall inflation into contributions from different products. Those contributions reflect both the inflation rates for each product and their weight in the index.

Input prices

The price of materials and fuels bought by UK manufacturers for processing. It includes materials and fuels that are either imported or sourced from within the domestic market. It is not limited to materials used in the final product but includes what is required by businesses in their normal day-to-day running, such as fuels.

Output prices

The amount received by UK producers for the goods that they sell to the domestic market, also known as factory gate prices. It includes the margin that businesses make on goods, in addition to costs, such as labour, raw materials and energy, as well as interest on loans, site or building maintenance, or rent.

Producer price inflation

The change in the prices of goods bought and sold by UK manufacturers, including price indices of materials and fuels purchased (input prices) and factory gate prices (output prices). If the producer price inflation rate is a positive value, this indicates that prices have risen, while a negative value indicates that prices have fallen.

Services producer price inflation

The quarterly estimates monitoring the changes in prices charged for services provided to UK-based customers for a range of industries.

Weight

The importance of the price of interest relative to other prices collected. With annual chain-linking, this is updated every year using business sales revenue data.

Precious metals

These are part of section C2441 of Eurostat's Classification of products by activity (CPA 2.1) and include silver (C244110), gold (C244120) and platinum (C244130).

More information on the strengths and limitations of the data, methods used, and the data uses and users is available our Producer Price Indices (PPI) quality and methodology information (QMI) and our Services Producer Price Indices (SPPI) QMI.

Development of producer price statistics

We are continuing to improve the quality of these statistics to address the findings and requirements set out in the Office for Statistics Regulation's (OSR's) Spotlight on Quality: PPI publication. Information on how we plan to address the OSR requirements can be found in our Producer prices development plan: October 2025 article. Once the developments are complete, we will begin the process for seeking reaccreditation. These statistics are currently designated as official statistics.

Oil and energy data

The crude oil data are collected from the four crude oil refining businesses within the UK. They are based on the volume and value of oil purchases made in the first part of the month (typically the first week), supplemented with the refining businesses' estimate of the volume and value of purchases for the remainder of the month. It should be noted that these purchases will represent a (varying) mix of future and spot prices.

The oil derivatives data (diesel, gas oil and aviation turbine fuel) are also collected from the refining businesses. The process is like that used for crude oil but refers to sales, rather than purchases.

The unleaded petrol data are sourced from pump prices from a range of business types. They are based on weekly data with the necessary tax elements removed.

The gas and electricity data are an average price for the month from a panel of suppliers relating to the supply of gas and electricity to industrial and commercial end-users. These data differ from the data provided for the purposes of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI).

The data include a mixture of fixed price contracts and flexible price contracts, compiled by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Like the oil data, the first estimate is based on the average price for the first part of the month (based on the volume and value of the energy supplied), supplemented with the suppliers' estimate of the volume and value for the remainder of the month.

All these figures are revised as new data (for example, on the volumes and values of oil purchased) and are received after one to two months.

Response rates

The response rates for the domestic PPI and the Import Price Index (IPI) were higher in August 2026 than they were in August 2025, while the response rate for the Export Price Index (EPI) was lower (Table 5).