Ben Plowden, chief executive of lobby group Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Today’s inflation figure could mean a big fare rise for rail passengers next year, especially if the Government decides to go with an above-inflation increase like we saw this year.

Economists expected inflation to rise to 3.7%, though the Bank of England forecast for July inflation was 3.76%, slightly higher than consensus. Inflation in the UK has risen to an unexpected 3.8%, the Office for National Statistics says.

South Africa's headline consumer inflation rose to 3.5% year-on-year in July from 3.0% in June, in line with economists' expectations. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast annual inflation would rise to 3.

Higher food and airfare prices pushed U.K. inflation above expectations in July, official figures showed Wednesday, which has tempered market expectations that the Bank of England will cut interest rates again this year.

The latest inflation spike may have “extinguished” hopes for further interest rate cuts this year, mortgage holders have been warned.

The pace of inflation in Canada cooled last month, offering some hope the central bank will resume lowering interest rates to help revive a sluggish economy being held down by trade uncertainty.