The February 2026 DMP survey was conducted between 6 and 20 February 2026 and received 2,042 responses.

Firms reported that their realised annual own-price growth was 3.7% in the three months to February, unchanged from the three months to January. Note that the DMP covers own prices from firms across the whole economy, not just consumer-facing firms.

Year-ahead own-price inflation was expected to be 3.4% in the three months to February, 0.1 percentage points lower than firms reported in the three months to January. Businesses therefore expect output price inflation to slightly fall over the next year, based on three-month averages.

Expectations for year-ahead CPI inflation decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.1% in the three months to February. The corresponding measure for three-year-ahead CPI inflation expectations was 2.8% in the three months to February, which is 0.1 percentage points lower relative to the three months to January.

Firms reported that annual wage growth was 4.3% in the three months to February, 0.1 percentage points lower than in the three months to January. Expected year-ahead wage growth remained unchanged at 3.6% in the three months to February. 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 -0.2% in the three months to February, up from -0.5% in the three months to January. Expectations for employment growth over the next year improved slightly, rising by 0.3 percentage points to 0.1% in the three months to February.