The RPI inflation rate is running above 3.0%. It rose from 3.5% in June to 3.6% in July. One of the contributors to this increase was foreign holidays, which rose from 2.5% in June to 3.6% in July, reflecting a 0.3% monthly increase in July 2017 entering the annual inflation rate for July 2017 and a 0.3% decrease for July 2016 exiting it. So far so normal, but everything else is not what you would expect. The annual inflation rate for January 2018 will mean something: it will represent the inflation rate for fiscal year February 2017 to January 2018 as compared to the previous fiscal year. All of the annual inflation rates for the preceding 11 monthhs are really just computational entries on the way to this estimate and have no meaning in themselves. The monthly rates of change are similarly meaningless and most definitely do not represent the change in package holiday fares between consecutive months. Silly? Absolutely.