UK inflation fell to its lowest level for more than a year in October, plunging to 2.2%, official figures have shown.
A petrol pump price war that saw 4.9 pence cut from a litre of fuel, together with a smaller contribution for tuition fees, helped the consumer prices index rate fall from 2.7% in September.
The sharper-than-expected drop took inflation to a level not seen since September 2012, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. It has not been lower since November 2009.
Today's figures will ease pressure on the Bank of England as it strives to meet its inflation target of 2%, and ponders the outlook for its flagship low-interest rate policy.
Today's figures will ease pressure on the Bank of England as it strives to meet its inflation target of 2%, and ponders the outlook for its flagship low-interest rate policy.
Recently-announced energy price hikes in the UK of around 9% have yet to take effect and are likely to have an upward impact on the rate later this year.
A separate measure of inflation, the retail prices index (RPI), fell from 3.2% in September to 2.6% in October.
The ONS said transport prices overall fell 1.5% month-on-month in October with the main contribution coming from fuel price cuts at many major supermarket chains as wholesale prices fell. There were also downward contributions from air fares and prices for secondhand cars.
In education, the impact of rising tuition fees was smaller than at the same time last year because many students were already paying the higher rate.
Food inflation fell from 4.8% to 4.3%, easing some pressure on household costs.
An experimental measure of inflation, CPIH, which includes housing costs, fell from 2.5% to 2%.
The figures, which were seen last week by Bank of England policymakers, come 24 hours before the bank publishes its quarterly Inflation Report.
A lowering of inflation expectations will build confidence about the future of historically-low 0.5% interest rates set out in the bank's forward guidance policy - which is conditional on the rise in the cost of living remaining under control.
However, the pledge not to consider raising rates until unemployment drops to 7% means that a widely expected improvement in the Bank's outlook for jobs will be seen as bringing an end to the low rate closer.
