Brazil's inflation rate demonstrated significant volatility between January 2018 and December 2024. Initially fluctuating between 1.88 and 4.94 percent, the rate dramatically peaked at 12.13 percent in April 2020. After a gradual decline to 3.16 percent in June 2023, it rose to 4.61 percent in August 2023. Throughout 2024, inflation decreased monthly until April, reaching 3.69 percent, before entering another inflationary phase. Simultaneously, the Central Bank of Brazil adjusted the Selic rate in response to these economic dynamics. Following a series of rate hikes from February 2021 to August 2022, the Selic reached 13.75 percent. This rate remained stable until July 2023, when a series of cuts began. By April 2024, the Selic had dropped to 10.75 percent, further reduced to 10.5 percent in May 2024. As inflation increased in the latter part of 2024, the central bank initiated rate hikes, setting the Selic at 12.25 percent in December 2024.

In case prices for goods and services go up significantly in 2023, over 20 percent of consumers around the world said they would shop less in general and cut down on spending as a response. A fifth of survey respondents said they would look for and purchase cheaper and better value products. Less than five percent of those surveyed worldwide believed inflation would be unlikely to impact their habits. What does inflation look like? The world entered a new inflation crisis in 2021, driven by a confluence of factors including the COVID-19 pandemic which restricted global supply chains, and the Russian-Ukraine war which exacerbated food and energy shortages. In 2022, global inflation hit 8.71 percent, the highest annual increase in decades. The rate of inflation is estimated to remain high in the near future, at around 6.9 percent in 2023 and 5.8 percent in 2024. Inflation dominated the list of most important problems facing the world according to a survey conducted in October 2023 – leading ahead of poverty and social inequality, crime and violence, and unemployment. In a global consumer trends survey, the majority of respondents said that inflation impacted them completely or a lot – for instance, seven in 10 respondents in the United States admitted they had been seriously impacted. Inflation’s impact on the holidays The end-of-year holiday season is typically regarded as a period of increased retail spending, driven by a series of major shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as well as the public holidays Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, inflation has put a damper on the holiday cheer, with consumers expressing their intentions to cut back spending amid the cost-of-living crisis. In 2022, a significant share of consumers in Europe said they planned to cut at least some related expenses. In fact, 40 percent of respondents in the United Kingdom planned to cut all expenses related to Black Friday and Christmas.

In the third quarter of 2024, half of Norwegian companies had problems with increasing purchase prices as a result of rising inflation seen around the world. Moreover, more than 40 percent faced problems due to an unstable economic framework. On the other hand, only 10 percent had issues with lack of credits or financing. As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Russian War in Ukraine that started in February 2022, inflation has been surging worldwide. For more information about inflation in the Nordic countries, please visit our dedicated topic page.

In the United States, almost one in five online shoppers profited from Amazon Prime Day deals to stock up on items that got more expensive because of inflation in 2022. According to a poll, over one-third of the surveyed U.S. consumers even waited for Amazon Prime in order to purchase a product at a lower price. Overall, the inflation rate had no effect on a limited share of consumers – less than 20 percent.

Low income Mexican households were the most affected by inflation. According to the source, the annual inflation rate of the representative consumer basket of households with low income experienced the largest increase in February 2024: 5.85 percent compared to the same month of the previous year. By contrast, the market basket of high income households (those that earn, on average, a monthly income of 66,899 Mexican pesos) registered an inflation rate of 4.77 percent.

A survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in March 2023 found that about 85 percent of respondents in Singapore reported that rising prices of groceries had the most significant impact on them. In addition, 54 percent of respondents stated that inflation in utility costs was the most challenging to deal with.

A survey from June 2022 found that inflation already inspired one in five U.S. consumers to cancel at least one streaming service subscription. A further 37 percent stated that they will have to drop streaming services if inflation continues at the current rate. Only 19 percent of people interviewed said that inflation has no impact on their streaming behavior.

Inflation is generally defined as the continued increase in the average prices of goods and services in a given region. Following the extremely high global inflation experienced in the 1980s and 1990s, global inflation has been relatively stable since the turn of the millennium, usually hovering between three and five percent per year. There was a sharp increase in 2008 due to the global financial crisis now known as the Great Recession, but inflation was fairly stable throughout the 2010s, before the current inflation crisis began in 2021. Recent years Despite the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the global inflation rate fell to 3.26 percent in the pandemic's first year, before rising to 4.66 percent in 2021. This increase came as the impact of supply chain delays began to take more of an effect on consumer prices, before the Russia-Ukraine war exacerbated this further. A series of compounding issues such as rising energy and food prices, fiscal instability in the wake of the pandemic, and consumer insecurity have created a new global recession, and global inflation in 2024 is estimated to have reached 5.76 percent. This is the highest annual increase in inflation since 1996. Venezuela Venezuela is the country with the highest individual inflation rate in the world, forecast at around 200 percent in 2022. While this is figure is over 100 times larger than the global average in most years, it actually marks a decrease in Venezuela's inflation rate, which had peaked at over 65,000 percent in 2018. Between 2016 and 2021, Venezuela experienced hyperinflation due to the government's excessive spending and printing of money in an attempt to curve its already-high inflation rate, and the wave of migrants that left the country resulted in one of the largest refugee crises in recent years. In addition to its economic problems, political instability and foreign sanctions pose further long-term problems for Venezuela. While hyperinflation may be coming to an end, it remains to be seen how much of an impact this will have on the economy, how living standards will change, and how many refugees may return in the coming years.

A survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in March 2023 found that 62 percent of respondents in Singapore checked prices before purchasing goods or services because of inflation. Moreover, 58 percent of respondents indicated that they had to cut back on unnecessary spending.

A survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in March 2023 found that 58 percent of respondents in India reported that rising inflation affected their ability to pay for basic necessities such as food, clothing, and healthcare. By contrast, 49 percent of respondents mentioned that they were unable to save due to inflation.

Over two-thirds of American households with children entering K-12 in the fall of 2024 were expecting rising prices to impact them more this year compared to last year. In contrast, just two percent of respondents surveyed said they expected inflation to impact their back-to-school shopping less this time around.

In a survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in March 2023, 69 percent of respondents aged 16 to 24 years stated that they needed to be cautious of their expenses due to inflation. In comparison, only seven percent of respondents in the same age group reported that they were not impacted by inflation.

A survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in March 2023 found that about 51 percent of respondents in China reported that rising prices of personal care and health products had the most significant impact on them. In addition, 50 percent of respondents stated that inflation in apparel and shoes was the most challenging to deal with.

A survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in March 2023 found that 73 percent of respondents in Singapore reported that rising inflation affected their ability to pay for basic necessities such as food, clothing, and healthcare. By comparison, 50 percent of respondents mentioned that inflation affected their ability to pay utility bills.

In a survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in March 2023 in India, 34 percent of respondents in India stated that they need be cautious of their expenses due to inflation. In comparison, 26 percent of respondents reported that they were not impacted by inflation.

As of April 2022, a large share of consumers in the United States believed inflation would have a greater impact on their financial situation in the next few months than it has to-date. Especially, struggling consumers (between 60 and 70 percent) felt this way. Close to 50 percent of those living in comfortable and prospering households expected the impact of rising prices to remain the same.

A survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in March 2023 found that 82 percent of respondents in Taiwan reported that rising inflation affected their ability to pay for basic necessities such as food, clothing, and healthcare. Meanwhile, 46 percent of respondents mentioned that they were unable to save due to inflation.

According to a survey conducted by Rakuten Insight on effects of inflation in March 2023, 62 percent of female respondents in Singapore stated that they need be cautious of their expenses due to inflation. By comparison, five percent of male respondents expressed their inability to cope with inflation.

In a survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in March 2023, about 86 percent of female and 83 percent of male respondents in Singapore reported that increasing price of groceries had the most significant impact on them. In comparison, 44 percent of female respondents were impacted by increased cost of personal care and health goods and services.

According to a survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in March 2023 in China, about 73 percent of respondents aged 55 years and above stated that rising inflation affected their ability to pay for basic necessities such as food, clothing, and healthcare. Meanwhile, 30 percent of respondents in the same age group reported that they were unable to save due to inflation.