UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation fell from 0.5% in December to 0.3% in January, slightly below the consensus forecast of a drop to 0.4%.
December’s reading represented the joint-lowest level since the CPI index was established in 1989, with today’s reading marking the first time this measure of inflation has fallen below 0.5%.
Falling prices for motor fuels and food were the main contributors to the latest slowdown, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation, meanwhile, rose by 1.1% in the year ending January 2015, down from 1.6% in December 2014.
Last week, the Bank of England warned the UK was sliding towards its first period of negative inflation in more than 50 years.
Governor Mark Carney said: “[Inflation] will likely fall further, potentially turn negative in the spring, and be close to zero for the remainder of the year.”
The Bank is predicting a sharper upwards recovery in the inflation rate, and still believes the measure will reach its 2% target on a two-year time horizon.
