UK consumer price inflation 10.5% in December: ONS

LONDON (Reuters) - British consumer price inflation fell to 10.5% in December from November's 10.7%, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that Britain's annual CPI rate would drop to 10.5% in December, moving further away from October's 41-year high of 11.1%.

Core CPI - which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - was unchanged at 6.3% in December.

The Bank of England forecast in November that headline CPI would drop to around 5% by the end of 2023 as energy prices stabilised, but policymakers have warned of ongoing upward pressure on inflation from a tight job market and other factors.

Financial markets expect the BoE to raise its main interest rate to 4% from 3.5% on Feb. 2, when it will also publish a quarterly update to its growth and inflation forecasts.

(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by William James)