The December DMP survey was conducted between 5 and 19 December 2025 and received 2,062 responses.
Firms reported that their realised annual own-price growth fell by 0.1 percentage points to 3.7% in the three months to December. Note that the DMP covers own prices from firms across the whole economy, not just consumer-facing firms.
Year-ahead expected own-price inflation was 3.6% in the three months to December, 0.1 percentage points lower than firms reported in the three months to November. Businesses therefore expect output price inflation to fall by 0.1 percentage points over the next year, based on three-month averages.
Year-ahead expected CPI inflation was 3.4% in the three months to December. The corresponding measure for three-year-ahead CPI inflation was 2.9%. Both measures have been broadly stable over recent months.
Firms reported that annual wage growth was 4.4% in the three months to December, 0.1 percentage point below the three months to November. Expected year-ahead wage growth fell slightly, by 0.1 percentage points to 3.7% in the three months to December. This implies that firms expect their wage growth to decline by 0.7 percentage points over the next 12 months.
Firms reported that realised annual employment growth was -0.4% in the three months to December, up from -0.7% in the three months to November. Expectations for employment growth over the next year weakened slightly this month, falling by 0.2 percentage points to -0.4% in the three months to December.