headline rate

British

noun

a basic rate of inflation, taxation, etc, before distorting factors have been removed

the headline rate of inflation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The headline rate continues to be distorted by a surge in electricity price inflation, reflecting the phasing out of government energy rebates, the data showed.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

That would be up from December’s year-over-year headline rate of 2.7% and core rate of 2.6%, which were released on Tuesday.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 15, 2026

It showed the annual headline rate of inflation rising to 3%, keeping alive worries about future price gains.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 16, 2025

The last CPI reading put the annual headline rate at 3%, a touch lighter than Wall Street’s 3.1% forecast but still well north of the Fed’s 2% target.

From Barron's • Nov. 12, 2025

The ECB's decision followed Canada's rate cut on Wednesday which brought its headline rate down from 5% to 4.75%, after inflation there fell to 2.7%.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2024

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023