UK inflation expectations weakened in December, Citi/YouGov survey shows

LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - ⁠The British ⁠public's ‍expectations for inflation edged down in December and are likely to keep on ‍weakening in the coming months, U.S. bank ​Citi said on Monday.

A monthly survey conducted by Citi and ​polling firm YouGov showed expectations for price growth in the 12 months ahead fell to 3.6% in December from ​3.7% in November, their lowest since January 2025.

Longer-term inflation expectations weakened to 3.8% from ​3.9%, Citi said.

Britain had the highest inflation rate among the Group ‌of Seven large, advanced economies at 3.2% in November.

However, Bank of England Governor Andrew ​Bailey has said he expects ⁠a recent weaning of price growth will continue and inflation will hit ‌the BoE's 2% target in April or May.

In their note on Monday, Citi analysts said they thought ‌the latest expectations survey might not be sufficiently convincing to ‌dispel the worries among some BoE policymakers about the risk of inflation remaining stuck too high.

"However, we do expect ‍to see these data continue to soften as realised inflation comes down ⁠over the H1 2026," they said.

The YouGov poll was based on a sample of 2,056 adults on December 22 and December 23.

(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by David Milliken)

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