Inflation concern at highest level since 1991

Ipsos's latest Issues Index shows that public concern about inflation and prices is the highest recorded by Ipsos since the early 1990s. Just over one in five people mention it as an important issue facing Britain (22%); double the level of concern seen just two months ago.  

Petrol prices have also moved to the forefront of people's minds, with 16% now saying they are important. This represents the highest level of concern about this issue since December 2000.

Between 1993 and January of this year, concern about inflation has never been higher than 8%. While public concern about the issue has not reached the levels recorded during the recession of the early 1990s (where it reached 32% in August 1990), the current trend appears to be of rapidly growing apprehension. Its increase in recent months links to growing concern about the economy, which has been on the rise since the middle of 2007. Worry about inflation and petrol prices is a more recent phenomenon, indicating that consumers are beginning to feel the effects of the credit crunch for themselves.  

Inflation is now the fourth most important mentioned issue, below crime/ law and order (38%), the economy (32%) and race relations/ immigration (30%).

Download the full June Issues Index here

Download the June Issues Index charts here

Download the June Issues Index tables here 

Technical Note

Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,959 adults aged 18+ at 203 sampling points across Great Britain.  Interviews were conducted face-to-face on 12^th-17^th June 2008.  Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.

Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, the exclusion of "don't know" categories, or multiple answers.  Throughout the volume, an asterisk (*) denotes any value of less than half a per cent.