Inflation fell to the Bank of England's target of 2% for the first time in over four years in December.
The rise in food prices eased to see the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate drop to its lowest level since November 2009, when it stood at 1.9%.
Today's figure from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) beat expectations that there may be a small rise from November's 2.1% figure, spurred by gas and electricity price hikes.
But while steep increases did have an upward impact, many of the tariff rises had not yet taken effect when the latest data were collected.
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