At the end of 2023, Zimbabwe had the highest inflation rate in the world, at 667.36 percent change compared to the previous year. Inflation in industrialized and in emerging countries Higher inflation rates are more present in less developed economies, as they often lack a sufficient central banking system, which in turn results in the manipulation of currency to achieve short term economic goals. Thus, interest rates increase while the general economic situation remains constant. In more developed economies and in the prime emerging markets, the inflation rate does not fluctuate as sporadically. Additionally, the majority of countries that maintained the lowest inflation rate compared to previous years are primarily oil producers or small island independent states. These countries experienced deflation, which occurs when the inflation rate falls below zero; this may happen for a variety of factors, such as a shift in supply or demand of goods and services, or an outflow of capital.

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 May 2025, global inflation rates and central bank interest rates showed significant variation across major economies. Most economies initiated interest rate cuts from mid-2024 due to declining inflationary pressures. The U.S., UK, and EU central banks followed a consistent pattern of regular rate reductions throughout late 2024. In early 2025, Russia maintained the highest interest rate at 20 percent, while Japan retained the lowest at 0.5 percent. Varied inflation rates across major economies The inflation landscape varies considerably among major economies. China had the lowest inflation rate at -0.1 percent in May 2025. In contrast, Russia maintained a high inflation rate of 9.9 percent. These figures align with broader trends observed in early 2025, where China had the lowest inflation rate among major developed and emerging economies, while Russia's rate remained the highest. Central bank responses and economic indicators Central banks globally implemented aggressive rate hikes throughout 2022-23 to combat inflation. The European Central Bank exemplified this trend, raising rates from 0 percent in January 2022 to 4.5 percent by September 2023. A coordinated shift among major central banks began in mid-2024, with the ECB, Bank of England, and Federal Reserve initiating rate cuts, with forecasts suggesting further cuts through 2025 and 2026.

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).

Bitcoin ranked as one of the most expensive cryptocurrencies existing by April 2024 - although values changed noticeably. Bitcoin had the most expensive cryptocurrency for a while, but Ethereum was significantly cheaper, with a price that was roughly 30 times less than that of the most well-known digital currency. However, Bitcoin is in a unique position. Ethereum is one of several cryptocurrencies, for instance, that come from blockchains that focus on making financial applications possible. Bitcoin, or a digital equivalent of gold When one categorizes the different types of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin stands out as it is one of the few that are essentially meant to store digital value. Some describe Bitcoin as a digital version of gold, purely designed to hold or possibly purchasing power over time. It has no other applications built around it, and is considered too slow to perform financial transactions. Stablecoins, the less volatile cryptocurrency Many coins in this ranking stand out as their price seemingly has not changed as much as others. This is because these are stablecoins - cryptocurrencies pegged to the price development of an external asset. This group of digital assets comprise an increasing share within the overall crypto market. Some see these coins as the future of retail payments, whereas others view these coins as a "safe" addition to their crypto investments.

At **** U.S. dollars, Switzerland has the most expensive Big Macs in the world, according to the January 2025 Big Mac index. Concurrently, the cost of a Big Mac was **** dollars in the U.S., and **** U.S. dollars in the Euro area. What is the Big Mac index? The Big Mac index, published by The Economist, is a novel way of measuring whether the market exchange rates for different countries’ currencies are overvalued or undervalued. It does this by measuring each currency against a common standard – the Big Mac hamburger sold by McDonald’s restaurants all over the world. Twice a year the Economist converts the average national price of a Big Mac into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at that point in time. As a Big Mac is a completely standardized product across the world, the argument goes that it should have the same relative cost in every country. Differences in the cost of a Big Mac expressed as U.S. dollars therefore reflect differences in the purchasing power of each currency. Is the Big Mac index a good measure of purchasing power parity? Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the idea that items should cost the same in different countries, based on the exchange rate at that time. This relationship does not hold in practice. Factors like tax rates, wage regulations, whether components need to be imported, and the level of market competition all contribute to price variations between countries. The Big Mac index does measure this basic point – that one U.S. dollar can buy more in some countries than others. There are more accurate ways to measure differences in PPP though, which convert a larger range of products into their dollar price. Adjusting for PPP can have a massive effect on how we understand a country’s economy. The country with the largest GDP adjusted for PPP is China, but when looking at the unadjusted GDP of different countries, the U.S. has the largest economy.

The statistic shows the inflation rate in Russia from 1997 to 2024, with projections until 2030. The inflation rate is calculated using the price increase in a defined product basket. This product basket contains products and services, on which the average consumer spends money throughout the year. They include expenses for groceries, clothes, rent, power, telecommunications, recreational activities and raw materials (e.g., gas, oil), as well as federal fees and taxes. In 2022, the average inflation rate in Russia was at about 13.75 percent compared to the previous year. Russia's economic uplift Based on economic power and economic standards, Russia is recognized as one of the biggest economic powers in the world. With a population of around 143 million people and a re-awakened population growth since 2010, Russia has tried to establish itself as one of the world’s largest economies and wealthiest nations and succeeded, being the sixth-largest economy in the world today. The gross domestic product (GDP) increase in Russia from 2009 to 2014 is also a good indicator of Russia’s economic growth and strength. After the 1998 Russian financial crisis, several reforms were introduced to the Russian economy which allowed it to recover. Not only did the Russian economy experience a great boost, but the quality of life in Russia as well as the people’s satisfaction with the direction of the country has also improved. In comparison to the previous year - with the exception of 2009 -, the Russian real gross domestic product growth rate has increased over the past decade. The trade balance of goods has been experiencing a rapid increase since the beginning of the millennium, with the exceptions of 2007 and 2009 due to the global economic crisis. This allowed Russia to export more goods than it imported. This high trade balance of goods resulted in a low inflation rate in 2012, the lowest recorded inflation rate since 2004.

The statistic shows the inflation rate in Australia from 1987 to 2023, with projections up until 2030. The inflation rate is calculated using the price increase of a defined product basket. This product basket contains products and services, on which the average consumer spends money throughout the year. They include expenses for groceries, clothes, rent, power, telecommunications, recreational activities and raw materials (e.g. gas, oil), as well as federal fees and taxes. In 2023, the average inflation rate in Australia was at about 5.62 percent compared to the previous year. Australia's economy Australia has one of the world’s largest economies and is a significant global importer and exporter. It is also labeled as one of the G20 countries, also known as the Group of Twenty, which consists of 20 major economies around the globe. The Australian economy is highly dependent on its mining sector as well as its agricultural sector in order to grow, and it exports the majority of these goods to eastern Asian countries, most prominently China. Large quantities of exports have helped Australia maintain a stable economy and furthered economic expansion, despite being affected by several economic obstacles. Australia’s GDP has seen a significant increase over the past decade, more than doubling its value, and experienced a rather quick recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, which indicates that the country experienced economic growth as well as higher productivity. One of the primary reasons is the further development of the nation’s mining industry coupled with the expansion and success of many Australian mining companies.

In 2025, stock markets in the United States accounted for roughly ** percent of world stocks. The next largest country by stock market share was China, followed by the European Union as a whole. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ are the largest stock exchange operators worldwide. What is a stock exchange? The first modern publicly traded company was the Dutch East Industry Company, which sold shares to the general public to fund expeditions to Asia. Since then, groups of companies have formed exchanges in which brokers and dealers can come together and make transactions in one space. Stock market indices group companies trading on a given exchange, giving an idea of how they evolve in real time. Appeal of stock ownership Over half of adults in the United States are investing money in the stock market. Stocks are an attractive investment because the possible return is higher than offered by other financial instruments.

In 2023, Walt Disney Company was the largest media company worldwide, with a market value of *** billion U.S. dollars. In second place was Comcast Corporation with a market value of *** billion U.S. dollars, followed by Charter Communications, Inc. at ** billion U.S. dollars. Spotlight: Disney’s ever strong presence Not only is Disney a household name loved for its merchandise, theme parks, and near timeless appeal, it is also one of the most valuable media brands in the world. Despite the death of Walt Disney in 1966, the company went from strength to strength and kept up with the pace of every fast-moving market of which it is a part, with the most recent addition being streaming service Disney+. The Walt Disney Company has multiple assets, and its entertainment holdings include Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Pixar, and ESPN Inc. These are indisputably Disney’s biggest money makers, as the media and entertainment segment accounts for ** percent of the total. Spotlight: Comcast competing for customers Comcast, the owner of such entertainment brands as NBCUniversal, Sky, DreamWorks, and Universal Studios, generates the largest share of its revenue from its cable communications segment, at more than ** percent. However, the growth of the video streaming market and the subsequent increase in cord-cutting in the United States is directly impacting the subscriptions of most companies and Comcast is no stranger to this trend. Since 2018, the company has seen losses in video subscribers intensify year-on-year. Comcast’s ad-supported streaming service, Xumo, competes with Roku, Pluto, and Plex for the number of channels offered to stay in the game and attract consumers.

In 2024, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China amounted to around 18.7 trillion U.S. dollars. In comparison to the GDP of the other BRIC countries India, Russia and Brazil, China came first that year and second in the world GDP ranking. The stagnation of China's GDP in U.S. dollar terms in 2022 and 2023 was mainly due to the appreciation of the U.S. dollar. China's real GDP growth was 3.1 percent in 2022 and 5.4 percent in 2023. In 2024, per capita GDP in China reached around 13,300 U.S. dollars. Economic performance in China Gross domestic product (GDP) is a primary economic indicator. It measures the total value of all goods and services produced in an economy over a certain time period. China's economy used to grow quickly in the past, but the growth rate of China’s real GDP gradually slowed down in recent years, and year-on-year GDP growth is forecasted to range at only around four percent in the years after 2024. Since 2010, China has been the world’s second-largest economy, surpassing Japan.China’s emergence in the world’s economy has a lot to do with its status as the ‘world’s factory’. Since 2013, China is the largest export country in the world. Some argue that it is partly due to the undervalued Chinese currency. The Big Mac Index, a simplified and informal way to measure the purchasing power parity between different currencies, indicates that the Chinese currency yuan was roughly undervalued by 38 percent in 2024. GDP development Although the impressive economic development in China has led millions of people out of poverty, China is still not in the league of industrialized countries on the per capita basis. To name one example, the U.S. per capita economic output was more than six times as large as in China in 2024. Meanwhile, the Chinese society faces increased income disparities. The Gini coefficient of China, a widely used indicator of economic inequality, has been larger than 0.45 over the last decade, whereas 0.40 is the warning level for social unrest.

As of July 18, 2025, the major economy with the highest yield on 10-year government bonds was Turkey, with a yield of ** percent. This is due to the risks investors take when investing in Turkey, notably due to high inflation rates potentially eradicating any profits made when using a foreign currency to investing in securities denominated in Turkish lira. Of the major developed economies, United Kingdom had one the highest yield on 10-year government bonds at this time with **** percent, while Switzerland had the lowest at **** percent. How does inflation influence the yields of government bonds? Inflation reduces purchasing power over time. Due to this, investors seek higher returns to offset the anticipated decrease in purchasing power resulting from rapid price rises. In countries with high inflation, government bond yields often incorporate investor expectations and risk premiums, resulting in comparatively higher rates offered by these bonds. Why are government bond rates significant? Government bond rates are an important indicator of financial markets, serving as a benchmark for borrowing costs, interest rates, and investor sentiment. They affect the cost of government borrowing, influence the price of various financial instruments, and serve as a reflection of expectations regarding inflation and economic growth. For instance, in financial analysis and investing, people often use the 10-year U.S. government bond rates as a proxy for the longer-term risk-free rate.

The per capita consumer spending on clothing and footwear ranking is led by Luxembourg with ******** U.S. dollars, while Norway is following with ******** U.S. dollars. In contrast, Burundi is at the bottom of the ranking with **** U.S. dollars, showing a difference of ******** U.S. dollars to Luxembourg. Consumer spending, in this case per capita spending concerning clothing and footwear, refers to the domestic demand of private households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs). Spending by corporations and the state is not included. The forecast has been adjusted for the expected impact of COVID-19.Consumer spending is the biggest component of the gross domestic product as computed on an expenditure basis in the context of national accounts. The other components in this approach are consumption expenditure of the state, gross domestic investment as well as the net exports of goods and services. Consumer spending is broken down according to the United Nations' Classification of Individual Consumption By Purpose (COICOP).The shown data adheres broadly to group **. As not all countries and regions report data in a harmonized way, all data shown here has been processed by Statista to allow the greatest level of comparability possible. The underlying input data are usually household budget surveys conducted by government agencies that track spending of selected households over a given period.The data is shown in nominal terms which means that monetary data is valued at prices of the respective year and has not been adjusted for inflation. For future years the price level has been projected as well. The data has been converted from local currencies to US$ using the average exchange rate of the respective year. For forecast years, the exchange rate has been projected as well. The timelines therefore incorporate currency effects.

Consumers from Asia and Oceania were more interested in NFTs than their counterparts from Europe, Latin America, or MENA. This according to information that was compiled from Google Trends, looking at how often people from around the world were searching for the keyword "NFT". Charts to measure whether an NFT hype was still present or not in 2022 started to appear as consumer data was not always available. One global consumer survey on NFT adoption per country, for example, was held in September 2021 – or half a year before the figures shown here. Either way, figures from both 2021 and 2022 suggest that consumers the United States, UK, and Germany were initially less interested in NFTs than those from other countries in the world. Why is that?

NFT interest tied to high-profile announcements

Many heard about NFTs for the first time when news outlets reported the high-value sale of Beeple crypto art piece “The First 5,000 Days” by auction house Christie’s. From that moment on, early adoption became a motivator for several U.S. consumers to acquire NFTS. The main motivation behind buying NFTs in the U.S. by that time, however, was return on investment. The rebranding of Facebook into Meta – by introducing the metaverse, a further application of NFTs, to a large audience – likely caused awareness to grow further. NFT-related announcements did not stop there: Canada’s increase in NFT searches, for example, might be caused by the news of KPMG Canada buying a World of Women NFT in March 2022. Celebrity promotions on Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) in early 2022, whilst sparking outrage from some, may also have added to the growing familiarity of what an NFT could be.

GameFi and the early interest in (Southeast) Asia

Several countries in the top of this ranking are found in Asia. Many believe this is due to the rise of blockchain games and the growing number of GameFi users – especially in this region. Take, for instance, the Philippines: The country hit the news in the summer of 2021 as it decided to make cryptocurrencies earned within NFT game Axie Infinity - originally from Vietnam – taxable. This caused sales made within Axie Infinity – one of the world’s valuable NFT collections - to decline, as many believed the game to be an environment where you could earn money by just playing the game.

The statistic shows the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in India from 1987 to 2030. In 2020, the estimated gross domestic product per capita in India amounted to about 1,915.55 U.S. dollars. See figures on India's economic growth here. For comparison, per capita GDP in China had reached about 6,995.25 U.S. dollars in 2013. India's economic progress India’s progress as a country over the past decade can be attributed to a global dependency on cheaper production of goods and services from developed countries around the world. India’s economy is built upon its agriculture, manufacturing and services sector, which, along with its drastic rise in population and demand for employment, led to a significant increase of the nation’s GDP per capita. Despite experiencing rather momentous economic gains since the mid 2000s, the Indian economy stagnated around 2012, with a decrease in general growth as well as the value of its currency. Residents and consumers in India have recently shown pessimism regarding the future of the Indian economy as well as their own financial situation, and with the recent economic standstill, consumer confidence in the country could potentially lower in the near future. Typical Indian exports consist of agricultural products, jewelry, chemicals and ores. Imports consist primarily of crude oil, gold and precious stones, used primarily in the manufacturing of jewelry. As a result, India has seen a rather highly increased demand of several gems in order to boost their jewelry industry and in general their exports. Although India does not export an extensive amount of goods, especially when considering the stature of the country, India has remained as one of the world’s largest exporters.