OECD inflation surged to highest rate since 1991 in January
Year-on-year inflation in the OECD area rose to 7.2 per cent in January 2022, compared with 6.6 per cent in December 2021, and just 1.6 per cent in January 2021, reaching its highest rate since February 1991.
This increase reflected in part another sharp rise in inflation in Turkey. Excluding Turkey, inflation in the OECD area rose to 5.8 per cent, after 5.5 per cent in December 2021
Year-on-year inflation in the G20 area also increased in January 2022, reaching 6.5 per cent compared with 6.1 per cent in December 2021.
Outside the OECD, inflation patterns vary widely: year-on-year inflation continued to rise in India and Indonesia, but declined markedly in China (to 0.9 per cent, from 1.5 per cent), and to a lesser extent in Argentina.
While services prices accelerated markedly in most OECD countries, energy prices, and to a lesser extent food prices, continued to boost inflation in all the OECD countries. Excluding food and energy, OECD year-on-year inflation increased to 5.1 per cent, the highest rate since December 1992, after 4.7 per cent in December 2021.
