The Office for National Statistics (ONS) verified the consumer prices index (CPI) rate for the month of May on Wednesday.
Though at their weakest rate since July 2021, the statistic shows that prices are still rising.
Despite a slight rise in the price of motor fuel, the ONS claims that falling food prices were the primary cause of the decline.
According to officials, core inflation, which excludes volatile items like food and energy, dropped to 3.5% in May, as predicted.
Concern was raised by some observers, meanwhile, because services inflation, which includes the hotel sector, only decreased from 5.9% in April to 5.7% in May.
Prior to this Wednesday, financial markets had priced in anticipation of an interest rate cut in August; but, on Wednesday, those estimates were revised to reflect a reduction in September.
The most recent data follows a prolonged period of high inflation in the United Kingdom, which reached its highest point since 1981 in October 2022, at 11.1%.
On Thursday, the Bank of England is expected to make public its most recent interest rate decision.
Since December 2021, the Bank has been gradually raising rates in an attempt to lower inflation to its aim of 2%. Inflation spiked following the COVID outbreak and throughout the Ukraine war.
