Inflation in the OECD: A Gentle Stroll
Imagine a world cup where the ball is inflation. In March 2024, the Olympian Consumer Price Index (CPI) kept the score steady at 5.8%, just a smidge above last month’s 5.7%. Pretty much holding its own, huh?
Headline Hits the Low‑End
Headlines were in a good mood—decreased in 19 out of 36 OECD countries. The Slovak Republic led the pack with the largest dip. Meanwhile, Türkiye was still blazing hot at over 60%, and seven nations hovered below 2.0%.
The Energy Slice
Neat news: for the first time since April 2023, energy inflation jumped to a modest 0.6%. A whole 28 countries saw this trend. But 12 lingered in the negative zone, with places like the UK, Italy and the US turning up the heat (as though the price pumps had been throttled back).
Food & Core Inflation
- Food prices continued to slump, dropping to 4.9% in March from 5.3% in February—thanks to 34 nations easing there.
- Weighting it out: core inflation (excluding food & energy) stayed smooth at 6.4%.
- About half the OECD countries baked a slight dip (0.2pp or more) in core, while a handful held their own with a slight climb.
G7 Inflation—Not Much Shake‑Up
The core G7 crew nudged their inflation up just a smidge: from 2.9% to 3.1% in March. Food prices killed it, but energy’s cool‑down was still negative.
Where Things Shimmered or Staggered
- France & Germany hit headline lows—a big deal, given the last dips were months apart.
- Italy crept up; the price rocket fire slowed, giving a fresh cappuccino of inflation.
- In the US, food prices pushed the needle a tad.
Across the G7, headliners were bruised by core inflation—that’s the real hero behind the headline numbers.
Euro Zone Snapshots
The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) slid to 2.4% (down from 2.6%). A 1%+ pop in food inflation settled at 2.0%! For the eighth straight month, core was bowing down but still above 2.0%. A sprinkle of energy inflation stayed negative.
G20—Inflation in the Big League
Stability at the top spot: 6.9% in March. Some names were feeling down—Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa—but Indonesia & Argentina bounced up when you’d expect a little more gas.
Stay tuned for the next wave of numbers and maybe an extra slice of pizza for the data crunch.
