UK inflation falls to meet 2% target for first time in four years

The UK's headline inflation rate fell to 2% in December, rounding off a near one percentage point fall since the summer, official data has shown.

The latest reading from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the UK's Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate dropped from 2.1% in November to meet the Bank of England's long term target of 2% in the final month of 2013. It is the first time since November 2009 the rate has met the official target. The drop confounded most economists who had forecast it remaining at 2.1%. Falls in utilities and food prices over the last few months have helped bring inflation down, according to the ONS, with last month's fall again driven by these factors. UK CPI has dropped from 2.9% in th...