The March 2026 DMP survey was conducted between 6-20 March 2026 and received 2,004 responses.

Firms reported that their realised annual own-price growth was 3.7% in the three months to March, down 0.1 percentage points from the three months to February. 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 3.5% in the three months to March, 0.1 percentage points higher than in the three months to February. The single month data increased from 3.4% to 3.7% between February and March, pointing to firms adjusting their expectations as a result of the recent increases in energy prices.

Expectations for year-ahead CPI inflation remained unchanged in the three-month averages. However, in the single month data they increased by 0.5 percentage points to 3.5% in March 2026, pointing to firms adjusting their expectations as a result of the recent increases in energy prices. The corresponding measure for three-year-ahead CPI inflation expectations was 2.7% in the three months to March 2026, which is 0.1pp lower than the three months to February 2026. Three-year-ahead CPI inflation expectations rose by 0.1pp in the single month data.

In March 2026, overall uncertainty rose, with 57% of firms reporting that the overall level of uncertainty facing their business was high or very high, up by 10 percentage points from February. Uncertainty around year-ahead prices also increased in the March 2026 single month data.

Firms reporting that realised annual employment growth was -0.3% in the three months to March, down from -0.2% in the three months to February. Expectations for employment growth over the next year were unchanged at 0.1% in the three months to March.