Britain's output price index for home sales of manufactured products rose by 4.8 percent in December year on year, the lowest annual rate since December 2010, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday.

The output price inflation was down from 5.4 percent in November, the ONS said.

The output indices measure change in the price of goods produced by Britain's manufacturers, which is also called factory gate prices. It is a key measure of inflation in the country.

The December output prices fell by 0.2 percent month on month, the first monthly fall since June 2010.

The total input price index, which measures change in the prices of materials and fuels bought by manufacturers for processing, rose by 8.7 percent in 2011, the lowest annual rate since October 2010, when the index rose by 8.5 percent.

Petroleum product prices fell by 0.9 percent between November and December and rose by 10.5 percent in the year to December. This is the lowest annual rate since November 2010, when the index rose by 9.9 percent. The monthly fall was mainly due to a 1.2-percent decrease in the price of diesel and gas oil.

Chemical and pharmaceutical product prices fell by 0.9 percent between November and December and rose by 3.3 percent in the year to December.

Transport equipment prices fell by 0.2 percent between November and December and rose by 0.9 percent in the year to December.

Other manufactured product prices rose by 0.2 percent between November and December and rose by 3.3 percent in the year.

Food product prices rose by 0.1 percent between November and December and rose by 7.1 percent in the year.