This is the first change in the CPI rate for four months.
The largest upward contributions came from increases in gas and electricity bills, recreational goods, motor fuels and air transport.
Housing and household services rose by 0.5 per cent compared with a fall of 0.3 per cent between the same period in 2012. Recreation and culture also rose by 0.5 per cent compared to a fall of 0.2 per cent a year ago. The main contributions in this sector came from games, toys, computer games and photography equipment.
Transport rose by 1.2 per cent compared to a smaller rise of 0.6 per cent a year ago. In particular, air fares rose by 9.2 per cent compared with a fall of 1.6 per cent a year ago. Petrol rose by 4.0 per cent while diesel rose by 3.7 per cent.
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The largest downward contributions came from smaller price increases in food and soft drinks and price falls for alcohol.
CPIH, which is a new measure introduced this month to include the cost of owning and maintaining a house, was 2.6 per cent. CPIH is an experimental statistic and will be used until summer before it is assessed before to make it an official statistic.
Retails price index inflation (RPI) which includes mortgage payments, fell from 3.3 per cent to 3.2 per cent.
Another experimental statistic called RPIJ is also being used which is a variant of RPI that calculates the figure using formulae which meet international standards.
In February, RPIJ stood at 2.6 per cent, down from 2.7 per cent in January.
The next inflation figures will be published by the Office for National Statistics on 16 April.

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