When Is The Next UK CPI Report In 2026?
By Ken Chigbo, Founder, KenMacro. Published 2026-05-13.
Direct answer
The next UK CPI report in 2026 is published by the Office for National Statistics at 07:00 GMT, usually on the third Wednesday of each month. UK CPI is monthly and is the single largest scheduled volatility event for GBP/USD and EUR/GBP. For the exact next UK CPI release date, traders should consult the KenMacro economic calendar at kenmacro.com/economic-calendar.
UK CPI is the Consumer Prices Index published by the Office for National Statistics, and it is the headline inflation print that the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee weighs most heavily when setting Bank Rate. In 2026, as in prior years, the schedule is monthly, with the release landing at 07:00 GMT, typically on the third Wednesday of the calendar month. The KenMacro desk treats this print as the single largest scheduled sterling event each month.
For the precise next 2026 UK CPI date, the authoritative source is the ONS release calendar, mirrored on the KenMacro economic calendar at https://kenmacro.com/economic-calendar/. The desk avoids publishing a hard-coded date list here because ONS occasionally shifts a release by a day for operational reasons, and a stale date list does more harm than good when a print moves.
What the desk can commit to is the pattern. Twelve UK CPI prints land in 2026, one per calendar month, each covering the prior month’s price data. January’s print captures December, February’s print captures January, and so on through the year. The release is published before the London cash equity open, which means GBP crosses and gilt futures absorb the print first, before FTSE 100 stocks reprice.
Headline CPI year-on-year is the number that dominates the screen, but the KenMacro desk watches three numbers in parallel: headline CPI, core CPI (excluding energy, food, alcohol, tobacco), and services CPI. Services inflation has been the Bank of England’s stickiest concern through the recent cycle, and a services beat or miss often moves sterling more than the headline does, because the MPC has flagged services explicitly in its reaction function.
GBP/USD typically moves 40 to 90 pips in the first ten minutes after a meaningful UK CPI surprise, though magnitude is path-dependent on the size of the surprise versus consensus and on the prevailing rate-path repricing. EUR/GBP is the cleaner expression of a pure UK story, because it strips out the dollar leg. Gilt futures (specifically the long gilt) and short sterling rates also reprice immediately, and SONIA futures often tell the cleanest story about what the print did to MPC expectations.
Liquidity around the 07:00 GMT print is thin compared with the London session proper. Spreads on GBP crosses widen meaningfully in the seconds before and after release, and slippage on stop orders is a real cost that the desk factors into any pre-positioning decision. Traders who hold size through the print should price in execution risk, not just directional risk.
Consensus is the anchor. Bloomberg and Reuters survey economists ahead of each UK CPI release, and the market price going into 07:00 GMT reflects that consensus. The trade is not the print itself, but the print versus consensus, and then the print versus where positioning sat. A print that matches consensus can still move sterling sharply if positioning was lopsided into the release.
The Bank of England’s reaction is the second-order trade. UK CPI feeds directly into MPC pricing on the SONIA curve, and the next MPC meeting typically sits two to four weeks after each CPI print. A hot CPI tightens the curve, a soft CPI loosens it, and the sterling move on the print is partly a discount of what the desk expects the next MPC to deliver. Cross-reference the Bank of England meeting calendar alongside the CPI calendar to see the sequencing.
Revisions matter less for UK CPI than for some other releases. ONS does revise, but the headline year-on-year figure is generally treated as final on release day for trading purposes. The KenMacro desk does not chase revision noise; the tradeable information is in the initial print and in the accompanying ONS commentary on category drivers.
Beyond the headline, the ONS release document itself is worth reading on the day. The category breakdown (housing and household services, transport, recreation, food and non-alcoholic beverages) tells the desk where the price pressure is coming from, and that breakdown often informs the Bank of England’s tone at the next MPC press conference. Energy base effects and one-off VAT or duty changes are common explanations for headline surprises that the desk discounts.
For traders building a 2026 macro calendar, the practical workflow is straightforward: subscribe to the ONS calendar, mirror it against the KenMacro economic calendar at https://kenmacro.com/economic-calendar/, and flag each third Wednesday as a sterling vol event. Pair each CPI date with the following MPC date to see the full reaction function in context.
Confirm the exact date before each release
ONS occasionally shifts a UK CPI release by a day for operational or bank-holiday reasons. The desk treats any hard-coded annual schedule as indicative rather than authoritative, and confirms each month’s date directly against the ONS publication schedule and the KenMacro economic calendar in the week before the print. A misdated print in a trading journal is a real operational cost.
Watch services CPI, not just headline
Services CPI has been the Bank of England’s primary sticky-inflation focus through the current cycle, and the MPC has flagged it explicitly in published minutes. A headline beat with a services miss reads dovishly for sterling, while a headline in line with a services beat reads hawkishly. The desk reads the ONS release document for the services component within the first two minutes of the print.
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Plan for thin 07:00 GMT liquidity
Spreads on GBP crosses widen materially around the 07:00 GMT release. Stop-order slippage is a documented cost, not a theoretical one. Traders carrying sterling exposure through UK CPI should size with execution risk priced in alongside directional risk, and should be aware that the cleanest liquidity returns once the London cash equity session opens at 08:00 GMT.
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Frequently asked
What time is UK CPI released?
UK CPI is released by the Office for National Statistics at 07:00 GMT on the scheduled release day, typically the third Wednesday of each month. The release lands one hour before the London cash equity open, which means sterling pairs and gilt futures reprice first, ahead of FTSE 100 stocks.
How often is UK CPI released?
UK CPI is released monthly by the Office for National Statistics, producing twelve prints per calendar year. Each release covers the prior month’s price data, so January’s release reports December’s inflation, February’s release reports January’s inflation, and so on through the twelve-month cycle.
Which currency pair reacts most to UK CPI?
GBP/USD is the most-watched pair around UK CPI, but EUR/GBP often provides the cleaner read on a pure UK inflation story because EUR/GBP strips out the dollar leg. Gilt futures and SONIA futures also reprice immediately on the print and inform the next move in sterling.
Where can I find the exact next UK CPI date?
The authoritative source is the Office for National Statistics release calendar, which is mirrored on the KenMacro economic calendar at kenmacro.com/economic-calendar. The desk recommends confirming the exact date in the week before each scheduled release because ONS occasionally shifts a print by a day.
Is UK CPI more important than US CPI for GBP?
UK CPI is the dominant domestic driver for sterling, but US CPI also moves GBP/USD through the dollar leg. For pure sterling exposure, the KenMacro desk treats UK CPI as the larger scheduled monthly event. For the GBP/USD cross specifically, both prints are first-tier events.
What is core UK CPI?
Core UK CPI excludes energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco from the headline basket, leaving a measure of underlying price pressure stripped of the most volatile components. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee weighs core CPI and services CPI heavily because those measures track persistent inflation rather than transient shocks.
How much does GBP/USD typically move on UK CPI?
GBP/USD typically moves 40 to 90 pips in the first ten minutes after a meaningful UK CPI surprise versus consensus. Magnitude depends on the size of the surprise, prevailing positioning, and how the print reshapes pricing on the Bank of England’s next Monetary Policy Committee meeting decision.
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