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.

Inflation in Zimbabwe rose to 10.61 percent in 2018, and is projected to jump dramatically to 736.11 percent in 2024. After that, estimates predict a slow decline for now - however, given Zimbabwe’s history of poor monetary policy, including one of the worst instances of hyperinflation, this seems unrealistic. Inflation history Inflation depends significantly on economic expectations of it, making it hard to reduce inflation once it has hit higher levels. This happened in Zimbabwe in the years approaching 2008, at the end of which a single U.S. dollar was worth over 2.6 trillion Zimbabwe dollars, up from 10,000 Zimbabwe dollars at the start of 2005. This all but destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy, leading to very low gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and a government struggling to finance itself. The way ahead In 2009, the Zimbabwean dollar had twelve zeros slashed from the banknotes. This was not enough, and after three decades of rule, former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe was removed from power at the end of 2017. Citizens of the country are trying to hold foreign banknotes; they prefer U.S. dollars or euros, but the South African rand is more common. However, the rand’s performance against other currencies has been lackluster in recent years. This underscores the struggle that the Zimbabwean people have to find a stable currency at the moment.

The Consumer Price Index gauges the price changes in a basket of goods and services in a defined time period. In Argentina, the CPI in April 2024 was 289 percent higher than the one registered the same month of the previous year, with this figure being the largest monthly inflation rate since, at least, the beginning of 2018. The Argentinian inflation rate has been experiencing a steep increase from December 2020 onwards, when the decreasing trend witnessed since December 2019 came to an end. Long history of inflation in Latin America High inflation rates are nothing new in Latin America. In 2023, the region's inflation rate was 14.41 percent, while the global average was much lower at 6.78 percent. Nonetheless, the main drivers of this are Venezuela and Argentina, both being in the upper table of countries with the highest inflation rates in the world. During the last few years, Venezuela entered a period with five-digits inflation rates, having to issue a new currency and implementing new policies to control price increases.

A history of hyperinflation During the last couple of years, inflation has been a constant among the main problems the Argentine society faces. The country returned to a three-digit inflation rate with former president Alberto Fernández, and the constant price increases took a toll on households across the board. Nevertheless, the problem is far from a recent one or the worst it's ever been, in 1989 and 1990, the inflation rate was over 2,000 percent, reaching for the status of hyperinflation. Commonly, hyperinflation is defined as price increases with over 50 percent per month.

2022 and 2023 saw inflation rates rise all over the world, especially spurred by effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. With its hyperinflation, ********* was predicted to have the highest inflation rate of the countries included here both in 2023, 2024, and 2025. On the other hand, ******* inflation rate was estimated to only reach *** percent in 2024.

In May 2025, the inflation rate in Russia stood at **** percent compared to the same month in the previous year, showing an increase. The rate has been decreasing since March 2025. The highest rate during the observed period was recorded in April 2022, at **** percent. The term inflation means the devaluation of money caused by a permanent increase in the price level for products (consumer goods, investment goods). The Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows the price development for private expenses and shows the current level of inflation when increasing. Russia's economy, an outlook The Russian economy was expected to grow by *** percent in 2025 despite the Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine that began in February 2022. At the same time, consumer prices were projected to grow by around **** percent in 2025 relative to the previous year. In 2024, the inflation rate was estimated at **** percent. Prices in Russia Russia’s economy is highly dependent on and affected by the price of oil. The price of the Urals crude oil stood at approximately ***** U.S. dollars per barrel in April 2025, having demonstrated a decrease from the previous month. The highest producer price index (PPI) was recorded in the electricity and gas supply sector, with a price growth rate of over ** percent in September 2024.

Inflation Rate in Mexico decreased to 4.32 percent in June from 4.42 percent in May of 2025. This dataset provides - Mexico Inflation Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Inflation in Jamaica dropped to about 3.91 percent in 2019, meaning that a group of goods that cost 100 Jamaican dollars in 2019 would cost 103.91 Jamaican dollars in 2020. This rate dropped from 4.38 percent in 2017 and was forecast to stay around 5 percent in the medium term.

Inflation and growth

After adjusting for inflation, the growth rate in Jamaica’s economy has been relatively slow over the past few years. This is an issue for the island because its gross domestic product per capita indicates a moderate level of development. This suggests that the people would benefit from a higher level of growth. Developmental economists often call this “catch-up” growth, a period of relatively rapid growth that occurs because the economy develops to the level of other countries that have fully realized their economic potential under modern levels of technology and trade.

Effects of inflation

Inflation is often associated with a corresponding increase in unemployment. In developed economies, central bankers worry about the tradeoff between higher inflation and higher unemployment. For Jamaica, more inflation may be the lesser of two evils. Since the Jamaican dollar is not pegged to any other currency, inflation also weakens the currency. For a country so heavily reliant on foreign currencies through tourism, this actually makes Jamaica a more attractive destination because tourists’ U.S. dollars or euros are worth more in relative terms.