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.

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 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 January 2025, the Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) inflation rate of the United Kingdom was 3.9 percent, unchanged from the previous month. The inflation rate fell noticeably after the COVID-19 pandemic, but rose sharply between Spring 2021 and Autumn 2022. After peaking at 9.6 percent in October 2022, CPIH inflation declined throughout 2023 and into 2024, falling to 2.6 percent by September of that year, before increasing again in recent months. Cost of living problems persist into 2025 Although it is likely that the worst of the recent inflation surge may have passed, the issues caused by it look set to linger into 2025 and beyond. While the share of households experiencing living cost rises has fallen from 91 percent in August 2022, to 45 percent in July 2024, this share rose towards the end of the year, with more than half of households reporting rising costs in December. Even with lower inflation, overall consumer prices have already increased by around 20 percent in the last three years, rising to almost 30 percent for food prices, which lower income households typically spend more of their income on. The significant increase in people relying on food banks across the UK, is evidence of the magnitude of this problem, with approximately 3.12 million people using food banks in 2023/24. Other measure of inflation While the CPIH inflation rate displayed here is the preferred index of the UK's Office of National Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is often more prominently featured in the media in general. An older index, the Retail Price Index (RPI) is also still used by the government to calculate certain taxes, and rail fare rises. Other metrics include the core inflation rate, which measures prices increases without the volatility of food and energy costs, while price increases in goods and services can also be tracked separately. The inflation rate of individual sectors can also be measured, and as of December 2024, prices were rising fastest in the communications sector, at 6.1 percent, with costs falling in the transport and furniture sectors.

As of December 2024, the inflation rate in the European Union was 2.7 percent, with prices rising fastest in Romania, which had an inflation rate of 5.5 percent. By contrast, both Ireland and Italy saw low inflation rates during the same period, with Ireland having the lowest inflation rate in the EU during this month. The rate of inflation in the EU in the October 2022 was higher than at any other time, with the peak prior to 2021 recorded in July 2008 when prices were growing by 4.4 percent year-on-year. Before the recent rises in inflation, price rises in the EU had been kept at relatively low levels, with the inflation rate remaining below three percent between January 2012 and August 2021. Rapid recovery and energy costs driving inflation The reopening of the European economy in 2021 following the sudden shock of COVID-19 in 2020 is behind many of the factors that have caused prices to rise so quickly in 2022. Global supply chains have not yet recovered from production issues, travel restrictions, and workforce problems brought about by the pandemic. Rising energy costs have only served to exacerbate supply problems, particularly with regard to the transport sector, which had the highest inflation rate of any sector in the EU in December 2021. High inflation rates mirrored in the U.S. The high inflation rates seen in Europe have been reflected in other parts of the world. In the United States, for example, the consumer price index reached a 40-year-high of seven percent in December 2021, influenced by many of the same factors driving European inflation. Nevertheless, it is hoped that once these supply chain issues ease, inflation levels will start to fall throughout the course of 2022.

According to the survey carried out by Dynata, Millennials was the generation which suffered most due to rising costs. More then half of Millennials experienced financial difficulties with housing costs, and 60 percent of them with everyday goods. The inflation had the least impact on Boomers' expenditures.

Inflation Rate in Japan decreased to 3.70 percent in February from 4 percent in January of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Japan Inflation Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

This data package includes the underlying data files to replicate the data, tables, and charts presented in How the United States solved South Korea’s problems with electric vehicle subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act, PIIE Working Paper 23-6.

If you use the data, please cite as: Bown, Chad P. 2023. How the United States solved South Korea’s problems with electric vehicle subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act. PIIE Working Paper 23-6. Washington, DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Inflation Rate in Thailand decreased to 1.08 percent in February from 1.32 percent in January of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Thailand Inflation Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

In 2023, Japan had an average inflation rate estimated at 3.21 percent, marking the highest rate of inflation in Japan in almost a decade. However, this figure was still very low compared to most other major economies, such as Japan's fellow G7 members, four of which had inflation rates around six or seven percent in 2023 due to the global inflation crisis. Why is Japan's inflation rate lower? There are a number of contributing factors to Japan's relatively low inflation rate, even during economic crises. Japan eased its Covid restrictions more slowly than most other major economies, this prevented post-pandemic consumer spending that may have driven inflation through supply chain issues caused by higher demand. As the majority of Japan's food and energy comes from overseas, and has done so for decades, the government has mechanisms in place to prevent energy and wheat prices from rising too quickly. Because of this, Japan was able to shield its private sector from many of the negative knock on effects from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which had a significant impact on both sectors globally. Persistent deflation and national debt An additional factor that has eased the impact of inflation on Japan's economy is the fact that it experienced deflation before the pandemic. Deflation has been a persistent problem in Japan since the asset price bubble burst in 1992, and has been symptomatic of Japan's staggering national debt thereafter. For almost 30 years, a combination of quantitative easing, low interest rates (below 0.5 percent since 1995, and at -0.1% since 2016), and a lack of spending due to low wages and an aging population have combined to give Japan the highest national debt in the world in absolute terms, and second-highest debt in relation to its GDP, after Venezuela. Despite this soaring debt, Japan remains the fourth-largest economy in the world, behind the U.S., China, and Germany.

This dataset provides values for INFLATION RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Graph and download economic data for Inflation, consumer prices for the United States (FPCPITOTLZGUSA) from 1960 to 2023 about consumer, CPI, inflation, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

Inflation Rate in Malaysia decreased to 1.50 percent in February from 1.70 percent in January of 2025. This dataset provides - Malaysia Inflation Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Inflation Rate in Pakistan decreased to 1.50 percent in February from 2.40 percent in January of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Pakistan Inflation Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

This data package includes the underlying data files to replicate the data and charts presented in The Inflation Surge in Europe by Patrick Honohan, PIIE Policy Brief 24-2.

If you use the data, please cite as: Honohan, Patrick. 2024. The Inflation Surge in Europe. PIIE Policy Brief 24-2. Washington, DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics.

In October 2024, approximately 39 percent of people in the Republic of Ireland thought that inflation / the rising cost of living was one the two most important issues facing the country. This was down from 65 percent in July 2022, and 55 percent in November 2023.

In 2024, the annual inflation rate for the United Kingdom is expected to be 2.5 percent, following an annual rate of 7.3 percent in 2023, and 9.1 percent in 2022. Before 2022, the inflation rate was at its highest in 2011 when it reached 4.5 percent, and was lowest in 2015 when an annual inflation rate of zero percent was recorded. Inflation has been surging in the UK since late 2021, and reached a 41-year-high of 11.1 percent in October 2022. Since that recent peak, inflation has gradually subsided, and was four percent in January 2024. Inflation down but not out in 2024 Although there are some positive signals regarding UK inflation decelerating throughout 2023, prices are still rising at quite a fast rate, especially in certain sectors. Food inflation, for example, only fell below double-figures in November 2023, and was still rising by 6.9 percent in January 2024. As of that month, however, alcohol and tobacco prices were rising faster than any other sector, with an inflation rate of 12.4 percent. Additionally, underlying core inflation, which measures prices rises without food and energy, is slightly above the headline inflation rate, and was 5.1 percent as of the most recent month. With some aspects of inflation seemingly becoming embedded in the UK economy, this will likely prolong the current Cost of Living Crisis engulfing UK households. Inflation crisis across in the world in 2022 The UK has not been alone in suffering from runaway inflation over the last few years. From late 2021 onwards, various factors converged to encourage a global acceleration of prices, leading to the ongoing inflation crisis. Blocked-up supply chains were one of the main factors as the world emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. This was followed by energy and food inflation skyrocketing after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Central bank interest rates were raised globally in response to the problem, possibly putting an end to the era of cheap money that has defined monetary policy since the financial crash of 2008.

Inflation Rate in Morocco increased to 2.60 percent in February from 2 percent in January of 2025. This dataset provides - Morocco Inflation Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Food at Home in U.S. City Average (CUSR0000SAF11) from Jan 1952 to Feb 2025 about urban, food, consumer, CPI, housing, inflation, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

In January 2025, the UK inflation rate was three percent, with prices rising fastest in the education sector, which had an inflation rate of 7.5 percent. In this month, prices were rising in all sectors, with the inflation rate for services as a whole at five percent, while for goods, prices grew by one percent. UK inflation falls in 2024 After reaching a peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022, the CPI inflation rate in the UK gradually declined over several months, falling to a low of 1.7 percent by August 2024. An uptick in inflation has occurred since that month, however, and by the end of the year inflation was at 2.5 percent above the Bank of England's target rate of two percent. Going into 2025, recent forecasts suggest that over the course of the year, inflation will average out at 2.6 percent, with the two percent target not met on an annual basis until at least 2029. Roots of the inflation crisis This long period of high inflation that the UK and much of the world experienced had its roots in the post-pandemic economic recovery of 2021. During that year, as consumer demand returned, global supply chains struggled to return to full capacity, resulting in prices rising. With inflation already elevated going into 2022, Russia's invasion of Ukraine added even more inflationary pressures to the global economy. European markets which were heavily reliant on Russian oil and gas gradually phased out hydrocarbons from their economies. Food prices were also heavily impacted due to Ukraine's difficulty in exporting its agricultural products.