Gap between inflation rates for richest and poorest households at its widest in 16 years

‘Rapidly rising food prices and soaring energy bills are driving the recent inflation surge,’ says Jack Leslie, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

The gap in the inflation rates experienced by the richest and poorest households in the UK is at its highest level for 16 years – another sign that the cost of living crisis is most severe for those least able to cope.

With Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak now facing daily pleas from business figures and their own MPs to take emergency action to help relieve soaring costs, it emerged that the inflation rate for the poorest 10th of households is 1.5 percentage points higher than for the richest 10th. This is the largest gap recorded since 2006.