By Ian Jones

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While the UK’s headline rate of inflation was unchanged in August, this masked a jump in prices for a range of everyday groceries, including cheese, fish and fruit juices, together with a rise in the cost of petrol.

A steep fall in the price of air travel helped offset these increases, together with an easing of inflation on a handful of goods, meaning the overall rate remained at 3.8% for the second month in a row.

Average food prices across the UK were 4.8% higher in August than a year earlier, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is the highest rate of food price inflation for 18 months.

Cheese, yoghurt, whole milk, crisps, butter, fruit and vegetable juices, ready-made meals and mineral water all saw a higher rate of annual inflation in August than in July.

The price of fish swung from a negative rate of inflation in July (down 1.8%) to a positive rate in August (up 0.5%), as did the price of ice cream (down 0.1% in July, up 6.5% in August).

Annual inflation also accelerated last month for various non-grocery items, including: train travel; children’s clothes and shoes; fridges and freezers; tickets for the cinema, theatre and concerts; and heaters and air conditioners.

Both petrol and diesel recorded a negative annual rate of inflation in August, but not as large as in July, indicating a rise in the cost of filling up at the pumps.

The average price of petrol last month was down 5.7% year on year, compared with a fall of 7.3% in July, while diesel was down 3.8% compared with a previous drop of 6.0%.

Helping to offset all of these upward pressures on the overall rate of inflation was the sharp drop in the cost of air travel, with prices 3.5% lower in August than 12 months earlier, compared with a year-on-year jump of 15.5% in July.

This huge swing from positive to negative inflation reflects the timing of the summer holidays, which typically has an impact on the rate of air travel inflation at this point in the calendar year.

Several items saw prices fall faster year on year in August than in July, including coffee machines and tea makers, cookers, washing machines and dryers, olive oil, pizza and quiches, sugar and women’s footwear.

All these downward movements further helped offset the upward drivers of inflation.

In addition, the rate of inflation eased notably for margarine, which stood at 2.6% in August compared with 9.7% in July.

Coffee, tea and soft drinks all saw a slight slowing down in price rises.

Below are some examples of how the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rate has eased or accelerated.

Two figures are listed for each item: the average rise in price in the 12 months to July, followed by the average rise in price in the 12 months to August.

– Examples where annual inflation has accelerated, ranked by the size of change:

Edible ices & ice cream: July down 0.1%, August up 6.5%Mineral or spring waters: July up 3.4%, August up 7.3%Refrigerators & freezers: July down 0.5%, August up 2.6%Children’s footwear: July down 1.9%, August up 1.1%Passenger train travel: July up 6.1%, August up 8.8%Fish: July down 1.8%, August up 0.5%Hotels & similar accommodation: July up 0.3%, August up 2.0%Cheese & curd: July up 3.4%, August up 5.1%Yoghurt: July up 1.2%, August up 2.8%Cinemas/theatres/concerts: July up 5.7%, August up 7.0%Whole milk: July up 11.3%, August up 12.6%Crisps: July up 5.1%, August up 6.2%Fruit & vegetable juices: July up 8.6%, August up 9.6%Heaters & air conditioners: July up 4.6%, August up 5.2%Ready-made meals: July up 5.7%, August up 6.1%Fruit: July up 3.5%, August up 3.8%

– Examples where annual inflation has eased:

Passenger air travel: July up 15.5%, August down 3.5%Garden furniture: July up 5.5%, August down 7.1%Margarine/other vegetable fats: July up 9.7%, August up 2.6%Coffee machines/tea makers: July down 0.7%, August down 4.0%Coffee: July up 18.0%, August up 15.4%Cookers: July down 0.9%, August down 3.1%Olive oil: July down 10.6%, August down 12.5%Pizza & quiche: July down 0.2%, August down 1.8%Breakfast cereals: July up 5.1%, August up 3.8%Washing machines/dryers/dishwashers: July down 3.4%, August down 4.2%Women’s footwear: July down 2.4%, August down 2.9%Bread: July up 2.6%, August up 2.2%Tea: July up 4.9%, August up 4.6%