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.

When inflation occurs in a country, the value of the currency decreases. That means that the purchasing power consumers have with a fixed amount of money decreases. Wages, especially lower and middle class wages, usually increase at a MUCH slower rate than prices of consumer goods; so consumers are likely to make the same wage, but are not able to buy the same amount of goods and services. Consumers in countries with hyperinflation suffer greatly because of this economic phenomenon.

Data was downloaded from: Link

For notes/metadata regarding the definition, measurement, or data collection for a certain country or group can be found by downloading the excel file from the linked webpage.

Original data provider: International Monetary Fund, World Development Indicators. License : CC BY-4.0.

INDICATOR_CODE: FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG

INDICATOR_NAME: Inflation, consumer prices (annual %)

SOURCE_NOTE: Inflation as measured by the consumer price index reflects the annual percentage change in the cost to the average consumer of acquiring a basket of goods and services that may be fixed or changed at specified intervals, such as yearly.
The Laspeyres formula is generally used.

Years included: 1960-2016

The following countries have no values for any year:

• Somalia

• Puerto Rico

• Guam

• US Virgin Islands

The dataset also conains some records that refer to groups of countries, which may be useful for those with no recorded values. Some of those groups are:

• Fragile and conflict affected situations

• Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC)

• Caribbean small states

• Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)

• Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)

• East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income)

• East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries)

• Least developed countries: UN classification

• Middle East & North Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)

If this data is being used for the Kiva Crowdfunding Data Science for Good event; The following countries (as they are named in this dataset), are named slightly differently in the Kiva dataset (to the best of my knowledge). For example, West Bank in Gaza is referred to as Palestine in the Kiva Dataset.

• Congo, Dem. Rep.

• Congo, Rep.

• Kyrgyz Republic

• Lao PDR

• Myanmar

• West Bank and Gaza

• St. Vincent and the Grenadines

• Virgin Islands (U.S.)

• Yemen, Rep.

View data of PCE, an index that measures monthly changes in the price of consumer goods and services as a means of analyzing inflation.

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) gives comparable measures of inflation for the countries and country groups for which it is produced. It is an economic indicator that measures the change over time of the prices of consumer goods and services acquired by households. In other words, it is a set of consumer price indices (CPIs) calculated according to a harmonised approach and a set of definitions as laid down in Regulations and Recommendations.

In addition, the HICP provides the official measure of consumer price inflation in the euro area for the purposes of monetary policy and the assessment of inflation convergence as required under the Maastricht criteria for accession to the euro.

The HICP is available for all EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. In addition to the individual country series there are three country groups: the euro area (EA), the European Union (EU), and the European Economic Area (EEA), the latter covering Iceland and Norway, in addition to the EU. Liechtenstein does not produce HICP and is therefore not included in the EEA HICP aggregate.

The official indices for the country-groups reflect the changing country composition of the EA, the EU and the EEA. The HICP for new Member States is chained into the aggregate indices at the time of accession. For analytical purposes Eurostat also computes country-group indices with stable country composition over time.

HICP for Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye (candidate countries), as well as Kosovo (^*) are also published. Their data is flagged with 'd' ('definition differs'), given that its conformity with the methodological HICP requirements has not been evaluated by Eurostat.

A proxy-HICP for the all-items index and main headings is also available for the USA.

National HICPs are produced by National Statistical Institutes (NSIs), while country-group indices (EU, EA and EEA) are produced by Eurostat.

The data are released monthly in Eurostat's database and include price indices and rates of change (monthly, annual and 12-month moving average changes). In addition to the headline 'all-items HICP', over 400 sub-indices for different goods and services and over 30 special aggregates are available, including the HICP at administered prices (HICP-AP).

Every year, with the release of the January data, the relative weights for the indices and the special aggregates (item weights) as well as the individual countries' weight within the country groups (country weights) are published.

The composition of the HICP for administered prices (HICP-AP), i.e. which sub-indices are classified as mainly or fully administered by each Member State, is updated at the same time (more information on HICP-AP can be found under the Specific topics on the web page: Information on data - Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP) - Eurostat (europa.eu) (#HICP - administered prices).

Eurostat publishes early estimates, called 'flash estimate', of the euro area overall inflation rate and selected components. These are published monthly, usually on the last working day of the reference month.

The HICP at constant tax rates (HICP-CT) is also published every month and follows the same computation principles as the HICP, but is based on prices at constant tax rates. The comparison with the standard HICP can show the potential impact of changes in indirect taxes, such as value-added tax (VAT) and excise duties, on the overall inflation (more information can be found in the 'HICP-CT Reference methodology document').

Flags

Flags used in the Eurostat online database provide information about the status of the data or a specific data value. The list of used flags can be found in the web page Database - Eurostat (europa.eu), above the tree, through the 'i' box 'information on the database' and then 'Flags and special values' topic.

(*) Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/99.

Nigeria’s inflation has been higher than the average for African and Sub-Saharan countries for years now, and even exceeded 16 percent in 2017 – and a real, significant decrease is nowhere in sight. The bigger problem is its unsteadiness, however: An inflation rate that is bouncing all over the place, like this one, is usually a sign of a struggling economy, causing prices to fluctuate, and unemployment and poverty to increase. Nigeria’s economy - a so-called “mixed economy”, which means the market economy is at least in part regulated by the state – is not entirely in bad shape, though. More than half of its GDP is generated by the services sector, namely telecommunications and finances, and the country derives a significant share of its state revenues from oil. Because it got highTo simplify: When the inflation rate rises, so do prices, and consequently banks raise their interest rates as well to cope and maintain their profit margin. Higher interest rates often cause unemployment to rise. In certain scenarios, rising prices can also mean more panicky spending and consumption among end users, causing debt and poverty. The extreme version of this is called hyperinflation: A rapid increase of prices that is out of control and leads to bankruptcies en masse, devaluation of money and subsequently a currency reform, among other things. But does that mean that low inflation is better? Maybe, but only to a certain degree; the ECB, for example, aspires to maintain an inflation rate of about two percent so as to keep the economy stable. As soon as we reach deflation territory, however, things are starting to look grim again. The best course is a stable inflation rate, to avoid uncertainty and rash actions. Nigeria todayNigeria is one of the countries with the largest populations worldwide and also the largest economy in Africa, with its economy growing rapidly after a slump in the aforementioned year 2017. It is slated to be one of the countries with the highest economic growth over the next few decades. Demographic key indicators, like infant mortality rate, fertility rate, and the median age of the population, all point towards a bright future. Additionally, the country seems to make big leaps forward in manufacturing and technological developments, and boasts huge natural resources, including natural gas. All in all, Nigeria and its inflation seem to be on the upswing – or on the path to stabilization, as it were.

The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is normally a triennial cross-sectional survey of U.S. families. The survey data include information on families' balance sheets, pensions, income, and demographic characteristics.

Unemployment Rate in South Africa decreased to 31.90 percent in the third quarter of 2025 from 33.20 percent in the second quarter of 2025. This dataset provides - South Africa Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.