Consumer price inflation almost halved in January.
The annual rate dropped from 2% in December to 1.1%, according to ONS data.
While January is the fifth consecutive month of increases (and eight of the past nine months), it has only gone higher than 0.4% in the past year in the past four months: 1.1%, 2%, 1% and 1.1%.
Retailers have been told to expect higher prices from suppliers.
The increase was again driven by carpet and rugs, which saw inflation of 1.5% – down from 2.4% in December but well above the annual average of 0.4%.
Smooths recorded yet another month of deflation, which stretches more than a year, with deflation rising from 1.3% to 1.9%.
