In January 2025, prices had increased by three percent compared to January 2024 according to the 12-month percentage change in the consumer price index — the monthly inflation rate for goods and services in the United States. The data represents U.S. city averages. In economics, the inflation rate is a measure of the change in price level over time. The rate of decrease in the purchasing power of money is approximately equal. A projection of the annual U.S. inflation rate can be accessed here and the actual annual inflation rate since 1990 can be accessed here. InflationOne of the most important economic indicators is the development of the Consumer Price Index in a country. The change in this price level of goods and services is defined as the rate of inflation. The inflationary situation in the United States had been relatively severe in 2022 due to global events relating to COVID-19, supply chain restrains, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. More information on U.S. inflation may be found on our dedicated topic page. The annual inflation rate in the United States has increased from 3.2 percent in 2011 to 8.3 percent in 2022. This means that the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar has weakened in recent years. The purchasing power is the extent to which a person has available funds to make purchases. According to the data published by the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) was about 258.84 in 2020 and is forecasted to grow up to 325.6 by 2027, compared to the base period from 1982 to 1984. The monthly percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban consumers in the United States was 0.1 percent in March 2023 compared to the previous month. In 2022, countries all around the world are experienced high levels of inflation. Although Brazil already had an inflation rate of 8.3 percent in 2021, compared to the previous year, while the inflation rate in China stood at 0.85 percent.

Monthly car loan payments in the United States were significantly higher than lease payments in 2024. People leasing a new vehicle paid on average *** U.S. dollars per month, which is slightly lower than in 2023. Meanwhile, the average loan payment for a new car increased in the past two years, reaching *** U.S. dollars in 2024.

The inflation rate in the United States declined significantly between June 2022 and May 2025, despite rising inflationary pressures towards the end of 2024. The peak inflation rate was recorded in June 2022, at *** percent. In August 2023, the Federal Reserve's interest rate hit its highest level during the observed period, at **** percent, and remained unchanged until September 2024, when the Federal Reserve implemented its first rate cut since September 2021. By January 2025, the rate dropped to **** percent, signalling a shift in monetary policy. What is the Federal Reserve interest rate? The Federal Reserve interest rate, or the federal funds rate, is the rate at which banks and credit unions lend to and borrow from each other. It is one of the Federal Reserve's key tools for maintaining strong employment rates, stable prices, and reasonable interest rates. The rate is determined by the Federal Reserve and adjusted eight times a year, though it can be changed through emergency meetings during times of crisis. The Fed doesn't directly control the interest rate but sets a target rate. It then uses open market operations to influence rates toward this target. Ways of measuring inflation Inflation is typically measured using several methods, with the most common being the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI tracks the price of a fixed basket of goods and services over time, providing a measure of the price changes consumers face. At the end of 2023, the CPI in the United States was ****** percent, up from ****** a year earlier. A more business-focused measure is the producer price index (PPI), which represents the costs of firms.

In 2025, new car leases were the type of vehicle financing with the highest average monthly payment. New car loan payments in the United States increased each year, with the monthly payment for new car loans reaching *** U.S. dollars in 2025. The average monthly payment for used car loans in the U.S. fell to *** U.S. dollars in 2025.

Poland's inflation rate has shown significant fluctuations recently, with the country experiencing both periods of high inflation and deflation. In June 2025, consumer prices increased by *** percent compared to the previous year, marking a notable decline from the peak of **** percent recorded in February 2023. Food and beverage prices drive inflation Food and non-alcoholic beverages have contributed to Poland's inflation, with prices in this category reaching a staggering **** percent increase in March 2023. Although the rate has since decreased, it remained at *** percent in September 2024, indicating ongoing pressure on consumer budgets. Similarly, alcoholic beverages experienced significant price hikes, peaking at **** percent in March 2023 before settling at *** percent in February 2024. These persistent increases in essential goods have substantially impacted the overall inflation rate. Varied impact across sectors While food and beverages have seen consistent price increases, other sectors have experienced more volatile trends. Clothing and footwear, for instance, went through a period of deflation from January 2019 to April 2021, with prices declining by as much as **** percent in May 2020. However, this sector also saw a sharp reversal, with inflation peaking at *** percent in March 2023. Liquid fuel prices demonstrated even more dramatic swings, soaring to an astonishing ***** percent increase in June 2022. As of January 2025, housing-related costs, including utilities, have emerged as the leading inflationary force, rising by nearly **** percent year-over-year and significantly influencing the overall inflation rate.

In May 2025, Alipay, launched by Alibaba Group, was the leading payment app in China with over *** million monthly active users. Sunshine Life from China Everbright Bank and UnionPay followed with a wide margin.

Homebuyers in the top 10 U.S. states with the highest median down payment for a home purchase had to pay more than double the median for the country in the first quarter of 2024. California, Massachusetts, and Hawaii were the states with the highest down payments in the United States, with median deposits for a home purchase exceeding 74,000 U.S. dollars. Nationwide, the median down payment was approximately 26,700 U.S. dollars. The rapid house price increase since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, has led to homebuyers needing to set aside a larger deposit. Additionally, a higher down payment allows borrowers to secure lower monthly payments.

The average monthly Social Security payment to retired workers amounted to ******** U.S. dollars in 2023. This was an increase from the previous year, when the average monthly payment amounted to ******* U.S. dollars.

In June 2025, the monthly inflation rate in China ranged at 0.1 percent compared to the same month in the previous year. Inflation had peaked at 2.8 percent in September 2022, but eased thereafter. The annual average inflation rate in China ranged at 0.2 percent in 2024. China’s inflation in comparison The term inflation means the devaluation of money caused by a permanent increase of the price level for products such as consumer or investment goods. The inflation rate is most commonly measured by the Consumer Price Index. The Consumer Price Index shows the price development for private expenses based on a basket of products representing the consumption of an average consumer household. Compared to other major economies in the world, China has a moderate and stable level of inflation. The inflation in China is on average lower than in other BRIC countries, although China enjoys higher economic growth rates. Inflation rates of developed regions in the world had for a long time been lower than in China, but that picture changed fundamentally during the coronavirus pandemic with most developed countries experiencing quickly rising consumer prices. Regional inflation rates in China In China, there is a regional difference in inflation rates. As of May 2025, Shaanxi province experienced the highest CPI growth, while Guangxi reported the lowest. In recent years, inflation rates in rural areas have often been slightly higher than in the cities. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, inflation was mainly fueled by a surge in prices for food and micellaneous items and services in recent months. The price gain in other sectors was comparatively slight. Transport prices have decreased recently, but had grown significantly in 2021 and 2022.

The number of Brazilians who were registered for the local instant payment scheme Pix grew by *** million people between December 2022 and January 2023. This is according to the Diretório de Identificadores de Contas Transacionais, or DICT, which registers applications for keys that are required to use the payment system. Pix was rolled out in November 2020 and is widely regarded as an important way for Brazilians to gain access to digital payments. The roughly *** million users reported for Pix in January 2023 contrasts with the estimated ** million cryptocurrency users in Brazil for later 2022.

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.

Monthly payments to finance used cars in the United States have increased by over 100 U.S. dollars from 2019 to 2022, with most of that change occurring during the last year. The average monthly payment for used car financing amounted to *** U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2022.

March 2022 ranked as month with the the largest monthly increase during the period under consideration, with the percentage change of the consumer price index (CPI) reaching three percent. The largest negative variation since 2017 was -1.3 percent, a month-over-month percentage change recorded in January 2019. Spain's consumer price index has also been analyzed annually.

In September 2024, the number of monthly active users (MAU) of QR code and barcode payment services in Japan expanded to around **** million. The number of monthly active users has increased from around **** million in January 2020.

The monthly value of credit and debit transactions made in the United Kingdom (UK) fluctuated significantly between January 2014 to April 2025. Just after the global Covid-19 pandemic, UK consumers appear to have made significant efforts to spend less money. However, since early 2021, this trend has reversed, showing an increase of about ***British pounds on average, despite some fluctuations. The same pattern was observed in the total number of credit and debit transactions made in the UK during the same period.

Of the major developed and emerging economies, China had the lowest inflation rate at *** percent in December 2024. On the other end of the spectrum, the inflation rate in Russia stood at nearly ** percent. The country's inflation rate increased sharply after the country's President, Vladimir Putin, decided to invade Ukraine, declined somewhat in 2023, before increasing slowly again since. The rate of inflation reflects changes in the cost of a specified basket containing a representative selection of goods and services. It is derived from the consumer price index (CPI).

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.

In December 2024, QR code payment services were the leading cashless payment method used at convenience stores in Japan, with payments amounting to ***** billion yen. Cashless payments accounted for **** percent of the total value of payments at convenience stores in the same month.

The seasonally-adjusted national unemployment rate is measured on a monthly basis in the United States. In February 2025, the national unemployment rate was at 4.1 percent. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical method of removing the seasonal component of a time series that is used when analyzing non-seasonal trends. U.S. monthly unemployment rate According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics - the principle fact-finding agency for the U.S. Federal Government in labor economics and statistics - unemployment decreased dramatically between 2010 and 2019. This trend of decreasing unemployment followed after a high in 2010 resulting from the 2008 financial crisis. However, after a smaller financial crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment reached 8.1 percent in 2020. As the economy recovered, the unemployment rate fell to 5.3 in 2021, and fell even further in 2022. Additional statistics from the BLS paint an interesting picture of unemployment in the United States. In November 2023, the states with the highest (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate were the Nevada and the District of Columbia. Unemployment was the lowest in Maryland, at 1.8 percent. Workers in the agricultural and related industries suffered the highest unemployment rate of any industry at seven percent in December 2023.

In 2024, the number of active users (MAU) of QR code and barcode payment services in Japan reached around **** million, an increase of over ** million active users compared to 2023. The value of QR code payments made in Japan has increased considerably in the past years.