(Bloomberg) -- The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics is to publish more detailed inflation data after warnings that poorer households are suffering disproportionately from the surging cost of living. 

Amid criticism that the headline rate masks divergences, Mike Hardie, the head of inflation statistics at the agency, wrote in a blog on Wednesday that “everyone has their own personal inflation rate” and that more granular data would be available from Jan. 28 after being suspended when the pandemic began.

“Given the level of interest in the cost of living and inflation we are planning to re-start this series,” Hardie said.  “Over the longer term, we are transforming the way we measure prices in order to understand people’s spending patterns in a more detailed and timely way.” 

Economists have warned that the U.K. faces a mounting cost of living challenge with prices already climbing at the fastest in 30 years. Fuel prices are also rising, the Bank of England has begun raising interest rates and the government is set to raise payroll taxes in April.

Hardie noted that past efforts to break down the figures in various ways, including by income, had revealed only small differences, but he also acknowledged that during the financial crisis low income households suffered much greater price pressures. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.