Inflation 'is worse' for UK's richest and poorest The richest 10pc of households are experiencing an inflation rate of nearly 3pc, due to their greater exposure to October's near trebling in university tuition fees, its researchers calculated. After the Government lifted the fee cap to £9,000, education costs overall rose a record 19.1pc between September and October. Global food prices are expected to rise further due the impact of a prolonged drought in the US which decimated crops, exacerbating the impact of long-term trends such as population growth and changing diets. However, for high earners who have not been affected by education costs, the picture is brighter. Once the tuition fees rise and other education costs are stripped out, the inflation rate falls back markedly for the richest Britons, almost at the target at 2.1pc. The poorest, however, are the hardest hit. They see an inflation rate of around 2.5pc, as prices for education are not driving the squeeze on their household incomes. John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, said: "This continues the pattern of most recent years in which rises in global commodity prices for essential products have had a proportionately greater impact on the poorest households, intensifying the squeeze on their real incomes from the economic downturn." Looking ahead, the headline inflation rate is expected to rise further as energy companies increase their bills.