ONS Car Tax Error Overstated UK April Inflation

The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) acknowledged that an error in car tax data from the Department for Transport caused April 2025's inflation rate to be overstated by 0.1 percentage points, reporting 3.5% instead of the correct 3.4%. This affected both the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Retail Price Index (RPI) for April. The ONS will not amend the published data but will use corrected figures from May onwards. The incident has heightened concerns about the accuracy of UK economic statistics, which have already faced scrutiny due to falling survey response rates and delays in data releases. Policymakers, including those at the Bank of England, have stated that these data issues hinder economic decision-making. The ONS has apologized and is reviewing its data quality procedures to prevent future errors.