Britain's official statistics agency said Tuesday that its main measure of annual inflation registered a 0% rate in March, unchanged from February.
The weakness of inflation reflected a year-on-year fall in prices for fuels, food and clothing, the Office for National Statistics said. Measured to two decimal places, annual inflation in March was slightly negative, the ONS said, at -0.01%. Consumer-price inflation was last lower in March 1960, according to ONS estimates.
Inflation is subdued in many parts of the world, a reflection of sinking commodity prices and patchy economic growth.
Prices fell in March in the 19 nations that use the euro for the fourth straight month, keeping alive the possibility of outright deflation in the currency union, a broad and persistent decline in prices that saps growth and makes it harder for governments, businesses and consumers to service their debts.
In the U.K., Bank of England officials have signaled they believe deflation is unlikely to take hold. Officials led by Mark Carney, the BOE's Canadian governor, have said they expect the weakness of inflation to pass, given steady growth in the U.K. economy and decline in unemployment.
Investors expect the BOE to begin slowly raising interest rates in the U.K. in mid-2016.
The decline in prices comes as the nation's political parties head into the final few weeks of campaigning before national elections on May 7. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives are hoping the economy's revival under their watch will return them to power, but opinion polls give them no clear lead over the main opposition Labour Party, which accuses Mr. Cameron of presiding over a fall in Britons" living standards during his five years in office.
Write to Jason Douglas at jason.douglas@wsj.com and Jon Sindreu at jon.sindreu@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 14, 2015 04:50 ET (08:50 GMT)
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