Inflation in OECD area climbs further, hits 7.7% in Feb 2022

This increase in inflation reflected in part another sharp rise in inflation in Turkiye. Inflation in Turkiye increased from 48.7 per cent in January to 54.4 per cent in February. Excluding Turkiye, inflation in the OECD area rose to 6.3 per cent, following 5.8 per cent in January 2022, an OECD release said.

While energy continued to boost inflation in a majority of OECD countries, food price inflation also showed a notable increase. Excluding food and energy, YoY inflation in the OECD area increased to 5.5 per cent, after 5.1 per cent in January.

Outside the OECD area, YoY inflation rose significantly in Argentina. It was stable in China and South Africa while it decreased in India.

In February, YoY inflation increased in all G7 economies. The largest increases, by 0.9 and 0.8 percentage point, were recorded in Italy and France respectively, and the lowest increase, by 0.2 percentage point, was recorded in Germany.

In the United States, YoY inflation, at 7.9 per cent, reached its highest rate since January 1982. Inflation excluding food and energy was the main driver of overall inflation in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, while energy was the main contributor to inflation in France and Italy.

In the euro area, overall inflation as measured by the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), rose to 5.9 per cent in February 2022, compared with 5.1 per cent in January, and just 0.9 per cent in February last year.

Excluding food and energy, inflation in the euro area increased to 2.7 per cent in February, compared with 2.3 per cent in January.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)