Producer price inflation, UK: May 2026

• Producer input prices rose by 8.7% in the year to May 2026, up from a revised rise of 7.9% in the year to April.

• Producer output (factory gate) prices rose by 4.0% in the year to May 2026, down from a revised rise of 4.1% in the year to April.

• On a monthly basis, producer input prices rose by 0.2% and producer output (factory gate) prices rose by 0.5% in May 2026.

• Crude oil and refined petroleum products provided the largest upward contributions to the annual inflation rates for input and output prices, respectively.

• Chemicals and other outputs from manufacturing provided the largest upward contributions to the monthly inflation rates for input and output prices, respectively, with price rises partly caused by increased plastic costs.

• The Import Price Index (IPI) rose by 10.1% in the year to May 2026, up from a revised rise of 8.8% in the year to April.

Producer input prices rose by 8.7% in the year to May 2026, which is up from a revised increase of 7.9% in the year to April (Figure 1). This is the largest annual increase in producer input prices since February 2023. Monthly input prices rose by 0.2% in May 2026, down from a revised increase of 2.6% in April (Table 1).

Producer output (factory gate) prices rose by 4.0% in the year to May 2026, which is down from a revised increase of 4.1% in the year to April (Figure 1). Monthly output prices rose by 0.5% in May 2026, down from a revised increase of 1.5% in April (Table 1).

The largest contribution to the annual input producer price inflation rate was an upward contribution from inputs of crude oil. Find more detail in Section 3: Input prices.

The largest contribution to the annual output producer price inflation rate was an upward contribution from outputs of coke and refined petroleum products. Find more detail in Section 4: Output prices.

The data published this month continue to be affected by the conflict in the Middle East. For more information on the data used for oil and energy prices, see Section 7: Data sources and quality.

Producer Price Index (PPI) estimates for both April and May 2026 are provisional. PPI figures for the latest 12 months are subject to revisions as additional survey data are returned and validated. Effective response rates at the time of first publishing can be found in Section 7: Data sources and quality.

Of the 10 product groups for the input Producer Price Index (PPI), eight made upward contributions to the annual inflation rate in May 2026. The largest of these came from inputs of:

• crude oil

• metals and non-metallic mineral products

• other produced material

The prices of inputs of crude oil rose by 71.8% in the year to May 2026, compared with a revised increase of 76.8% in the year to April (Table 2). On a monthly basis, crude oil prices fell by 5.9% in May 2026, down from a revised increase of 12.9% in April. This is the first monthly price fall in crude oil prices since December 2025.

The prices of inputs of metals and non-metallic mineral products rose by 6.8% in the year to May 2026, compared with a revised increase of 5.3% in the year to April (Table 2). The annual price rise in May was partly caused by non-EU imports of precious metals, such as silver and platinum.

The prices of inputs of other produced materials rose by 10.2% in the year to May 2026, compared with a revised increase of 9.1% in the year to April (Table 2). The annual price rise in May was partly caused by refined petroleum products.

The largest offsetting downward contribution to the annual inflation rate came from inputs of domestic food, where prices fell by 0.7% in the year to May 2026, up from a revised fall of 1.4% in the year to April (Table 2). On a monthly basis, domestic food input prices rose by 1.0%, while imported food prices fell by 2.1%.

Chemicals provided the largest contribution to change in the annual inflation rate between April and May 2026. Prices rose by 5.6% in the year to May 2026, up from a revised rise of 2.4% in April (Table 2). This upward change was partly caused by increased costs for plastics in primary forms, which were due to both the wider cost pressures within the chemical sector and the impact of the conflict in the Middle East.

Fuel covers electricity and gas (D35) and coal (B05), according to Eurostat's Classification of products by activity (CPA 2.1).

The Import Price Index (IPI) measures the price of materials and fuels imported by UK manufacturers. It rose by 10.1% in the year to May 2026, up from a revised increase of 8.8% in the year to April. On a monthly basis, import prices were flat between April and May 2026, compared with a revised increase of 3.7% between March and April. The annual price rise was mainly caused by non-EU imports of crude petroleum. The Sterling Index fell by 0.8% in the year to May 2026, down from a rise of 0.1% in April (Table 3).

Of the 10 product groups for the output Producer Price Index (PPI), eight made upward contributions to the annual inflation rate in May 2026. The largest of these came from:

• outputs of coke and refined petroleum products

• other outputs from manufacturing

• basic metals, fabricated metal products and machinery

Prices for coke and refined petroleum products rose by 55.6% in the year to May 2026, up from a revised rise of 51.1% in the year to April (Table 4). On a monthly basis, prices for this product group fell by 0.5% in May 2026, down from a revised increase of 15.0% in April. This is the first monthly price fall in coke and refined petroleum prices since January 2026.

Prices for other outputs from manufacturing rose by 4.3% in the year to May 2026, up from a revised rise of 3.1% in the year to April (Table 4). While this contribution came from several divisions, the impact of increased costs for plastics or plastic products, caused by higher oil prices resulting from the conflict in the Middle East, contributed to many of these divisions.

Prices for basic metals, fabricated metal products and machinery rose by 4.2% in the year to May 2026, up from a revised rise of 4.1% in the year to April (Table 4).

Outputs of motor vehicles and other transport equipment provided the largest downward contribution to change in the annual inflation rate between April and May 2026. Prices fell by 1.7% in the year to May 2026, down from a revised rise of 2.2% in April (Table 4). This was because of supply chain issues and other market factors, leading to increased prices in the first half of 2025, which were partly mitigated by early 2026.

The Export Price Index (EPI) rose by 9.7% in the year to May 2026, up from a revised rise of 8.4% in the year to April. On a monthly basis, export prices rose by 0.1% in May 2026, down from a revised rise of 2.4% in April. The annual price rise was partly caused by exports of refined petroleum products.

Contribution

As the aggregate producer prices indices are built up from individual product indices, it is possible to decompose overall inflation into contributions from different products. Those contributions reflect both the inflation rates for each product and their weight in the index.

Input prices

The price of materials and fuels bought by UK manufacturers for processing. It includes materials and fuels that are either imported or sourced from within the domestic market. It is not limited to materials used in the final product but includes what is required by businesses in their normal day-to-day running, such as fuels.

Output prices

The amount received by UK producers for the goods that they sell to the domestic market, also known as factory gate prices. It includes the margin that businesses make on goods, in addition to costs, such as labour, raw materials and energy, as well as interest on loans, site or building maintenance, or rent.

Producer price inflation

The change in the prices of goods bought and sold by UK manufacturers, including price indices of materials and fuels purchased (input prices) and factory gate prices (output prices). If the producer price inflation rate is a positive value, this indicates that prices have risen, while a negative value indicates that prices have fallen.

Services producer price inflation

The quarterly estimates monitoring the changes in prices charged for services provided to UK-based customers for a range of industries.

Weight

The importance of the price of interest relative to other prices collected. With annual chain-linking, this is updated every year, using business sales revenue data.

For information on the strengths and limitations of the data, methods used, and the data uses and users, please see our Producer Price Indices (PPI) quality and methodology information (QMI) and our Services Producer Price Indices (SPPI) QMI.

Development of producer price statistics

We are continuing to improve the quality of these statistics to address the findings and requirements set out in the Office for Statistics Regulation's (OSR's) Spotlight on Quality: PPI publication. Information on how we plan to address the OSR requirements can be found in our Producer prices development plan: October 2025 article. Once the developments are complete, we will begin the process for seeking reaccreditation. These statistics are currently designated as official statistics.

Oil and energy data

The crude oil data are collected from the four crude oil refining businesses within the UK. It is based on the volume and value of oil purchases made in the first part of the month (typically the first week), supplemented with the refining businesses' estimate of the volume and value of purchases for the remainder of the month. It should be noted that these purchases will represent a (varying) mix of future and spot prices.

The oil derivatives data (diesel, gas oil and aviation turbine fuel) are also collected from the refining businesses. The process is like that used for crude oil but refers to sales rather than purchases.

The unleaded petrol data are sourced from pump prices from a range of business types. They are based on weekly data with the necessary tax elements removed.

The gas and electricity data are an average price for the month from a panel of suppliers relating to the supply of gas and electricity to industrial and commercial end-users. These data differ from the data provided for the purposes of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). The data include a mixture of fixed price contracts and flexible price contracts, compiled by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Like the oil data, the first estimate is based on the average price for the first part of the month (based upon the volume and value of the energy supplied), supplemented with the suppliers' estimate of the volume and value for the remainder of the month.

All these figures are revised as new data (for example, on the volumes and values of oil purchased) and are received after one to two months.

Response rates

In May 2026, the response rates for the domestic PPI and Export Price Index (EPI) were lower than they were in May 2025, while the response rate for the Import Price Index (IPI) was higher (Table 5).