Bank of England · Sep 11, 2026
Bank of England reports lower inflation expectations in its August survey
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The Bank of England published the survey results on September 11, 2026. It reports that respondents’ median inflation expectations for the coming year, the following year and five years ahead were lower in August than in May. The Bank cautions that the comparison is affected by a change in survey provider: Savanta conducted the August survey, while Ipsos conducted the May survey. In a parallel run, both providers recorded the same inflation perceptions, but Savanta recorded lower median expectations at each reported horizon. The Bank says the May-to-August comparison reflects changes in provider as well as like-for-like changes in expectations. Respondents also expressed different views about what would be best for the economy and for them personally. Comparisons across survey periods require further caution because the survey moved from face-to-face interviews to online collection, and the questionnaire changed.
Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims.
Original source
Bank of England · Article
Source details
Original source date: Sep 11, 2026 (2026-09-11T08:30:00.000Z).
Date basis: Date supplied by the publisher’s feed.
Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-01T08:44:00.377Z. First observed: 2026-10-30T02:44:04.112Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-30T02:45:47.794Z.
Referenced by
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Limits
Text as retrieved on October 30, 2026; originally published September 11, 2026. The source cautions that the change in survey provider complicates comparison of the May and August results; the evidence does not isolate the provider effect from changes in respondents’ expectations. The source also warns that the move from face-to-face to online collection created a methodological break, affecting comparisons with earlier survey results.
Open question
How much of the change in reported expectations between May and August reflects changed views rather than the switch in survey provider?
Source-stated
The Bank of England published the survey results on September 11, 2026.
Published on 11 September 2026 News release
Source-stated
The survey reported lower median inflation expectations in August than in May at the reported horizons, while warning that the comparison partly reflects a change in survey provider.
Comparisons of changes inflation expectations between the headline May results (Ipsos) and the headline August results (Savanta) should therefore be treated with caution, as in part they reflect changes in the provider as well as like-for-like changes in expectations.
Source-stated
The Bank reports that median expectations for inflation over the coming year, the twelve months after that and five years ahead were lower than in May.
Median expectations of the rate of inflation over the coming year were 3.2%, down from 4% in May 2026. Question 2b: Asked about expected inflation in the twelve months after that, respondents gave a median answer of 2.9%, down from 3.5% in May 2026.
Source-stated
The Bank cautions that the move from face-to-face to online surveying, and changes to the questionnaire, affect comparisons across survey periods.
These mode of collection changes mean caution should be taken when making comparisons across the latest twelve surveys and May 2020 and with previous vintages, which were based on face-to-face interviews.
Source and contributor context
Bank of England · Publisher
The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred.
Source media
Media retrieval status: unchecked.
Terms and references
Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement.
Editorial provenance
Version 1. Publication ID: 7419c7d1-b7ff-b550-b0d6-8775f262a5e1.
Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5.
Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-01T08:43:59.153Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true.
Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge_admitted_by_model.
Observation: ca2ea012764fd49496b0817502735b258c8a2d2f5b07389c80d51513d05117f0. Source text hash: e2de2f51021100f2fd517c62badca19213c5b11a845144c0fbc414ae02c23b9c.
Revision and source-check history
Version 1 · 2026-11-01T08:44:00.377Z
Bank of England reports lower inflation expectations in its August survey
The Bank of England published the survey results on September 11, 2026. It reports that respondents’ median inflation expectations for the coming year, the following year and five years ahead were lower in August than in May. The Bank cautions that the comparison is affected by a change in survey provider: Savanta conducted the August survey, while Ipsos conducted the May survey. In a parallel run, both providers recorded the same inflation perceptions, but Savanta recorded lower median expectations at each reported horizon. The Bank says the May-to-August comparison reflects changes in provider as well as like-for-like changes in expectations. Respondents also expressed different views about what would be best for the economy and for them personally. Comparisons across survey periods require further caution because the survey moved from face-to-face interviews to online collection, and the questionnaire changed.
Original source
Bank of England · Article
Source details
Original source date: Sep 11, 2026 (2026-09-11T08:30:00.000Z).
Date basis: Date supplied by the publisher’s feed.
Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-01T08:44:00.377Z. First observed: 2026-10-30T02:44:04.112Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-30T02:45:47.794Z.
Limits
Text as retrieved on October 30, 2026; originally published September 11, 2026. The source cautions that the change in survey provider complicates comparison of the May and August results; the evidence does not isolate the provider effect from changes in respondents’ expectations. The source also warns that the move from face-to-face to online collection created a methodological break, affecting comparisons with earlier survey results.
Open question
How much of the change in reported expectations between May and August reflects changed views rather than the switch in survey provider?
Source-stated
The Bank of England published the survey results on September 11, 2026.
Published on 11 September 2026 News release
Source-stated
The survey reported lower median inflation expectations in August than in May at the reported horizons, while warning that the comparison partly reflects a change in survey provider.
Comparisons of changes inflation expectations between the headline May results (Ipsos) and the headline August results (Savanta) should therefore be treated with caution, as in part they reflect changes in the provider as well as like-for-like changes in expectations.
Source-stated
The Bank reports that median expectations for inflation over the coming year, the twelve months after that and five years ahead were lower than in May.
Median expectations of the rate of inflation over the coming year were 3.2%, down from 4% in May 2026. Question 2b: Asked about expected inflation in the twelve months after that, respondents gave a median answer of 2.9%, down from 3.5% in May 2026.
Source-stated
The Bank cautions that the move from face-to-face to online surveying, and changes to the questionnaire, affect comparisons across survey periods.
These mode of collection changes mean caution should be taken when making comparisons across the latest twelve surveys and May 2020 and with previous vintages, which were based on face-to-face interviews.
Source and contributor context
Bank of England · Publisher
The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred.
Source media
Media retrieval status: unchecked.
Terms and references
Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement.
Editorial provenance
Version 1. Publication ID: 7419c7d1-b7ff-b550-b0d6-8775f262a5e1.
Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5.
Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-01T08:43:59.153Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true.
Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge_admitted_by_model.
Observation: ca2ea012764fd49496b0817502735b258c8a2d2f5b07389c80d51513d05117f0. Source text hash: e2de2f51021100f2fd517c62badca19213c5b11a845144c0fbc414ae02c23b9c.
passed · 2026-11-01T08:43:59.153Z · anthropic/claude-opus-5.5
Publication: 7419c7d1-b7ff-b550-b0d6-8775f262a5e1
attribution — pass: This is a single Bank of England news release on its own Inflation Attitudes Survey, conducted by Savanta. The reading correctly attributes the findings and caveats to the Bank. It is not a listing page; the 'Other publications' sidebar is separate and unused.
This quarterly survey, conducted by Savanta on our behalf, assesses public attitudes to inflation, opinions about the Bank and awareness of our work.
summary — pass: The title, summary and question faithfully present the survey's lower median expectations and its central provider-change caveat, including the parallel run. The language is plain and understandable without specialist background. 'Comparisons across survey periods' is broader than the source, which limits the online-mode caution to comparisons with May 2020 and earlier face-to-face surveys. The limitations section frames this correctly. The question follows directly from the source's caveat.
However, inflation expectations at all of the 1yr, 2yr and 5yr ahead horizons were lower in the Savanta survey.
date — pass: The originalPublished instant, 2026-09-11T08:30Z, matches the page's 11 September 2026 dateline at day precision. The survey fieldwork dates are not misstated. Sidebar items dated October 2026 are later page content, and the reading neither uses nor relies on them. The kind is publisher-page, so no archive disclosure is needed.
Published on 11 September 2026
support — pass: Each claim is directly supported. The 3.2% vs 4%, 2.9% vs 3.5% and 3.2% vs 3.9% medians support the lower-expectations claim. The provider caveat and the mode-of-collection caution are quoted from the source. No benefits, costs or forecasts are invented.
Question 2c: Asked about expectations of inflation in the longer term, say in five years’ time, respondents gave a median answer of 3.2%, down from 3.9% in May 2026.
media — pass: No media was selected, and no verified media candidates were supplied, so selecting none is appropriate.
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