Official figures show that record price cuts by retailers in the sales season and falling petrol costs helped bring down UK inflation in June.
The Office for National Statistics said the inflation rate fell from 3.4% in May to 3.2%. Clothing and footwear prices fell by 2.1% in the month - the biggest reduction seen in June since the ONS began collecting monthly figures 14 years ago.
The impact of lower petrol and clothing prices outweighed upward pressures on inflation such as rising air fares - with ticket prices to South Africa doubling for the World Cup - and higher premiums for car and house insurance.
The figures are likely to ease some concerns among inflation watchers at the Bank of England, although the consumer price index (CPI) remains well above the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) 2% target and has stayed at 3% or higher throughout 2010.
The BoE predicts the CPI will gradually fall back towards target later this year as the economic slack built up by a record recession drags down prices. Factory gate prices from manufacturers fell last month for the first time since November 2008.
The MPC has left monetary policy unchanged since last November, with interest rates at a record low of 0.5% and £200 billion in cash pumped into the economy through quantitative easing.
But MPC member Andrew Sentance made the first call for a rate hike in almost two years during June, arguing that inflation had proved more resistant to recession than expected and that the recovery was strong enough for the emergency support put in place by the MPC to be gradually withdrawn.
