Sharp rise in energy prices pushes OECD annual inflation up to 2.3% in January 2017
Annual inflation in the OECD area jumped to 2.3% in January 2017, the highest rate since April 2012, compared with 1.8% in December 2016. This rise was driven by energy prices which rose sharply, by 8.5%, in the year to January, compared with 3.3% in the year to December. Food price inflation also picked up (to 0.4%, compared with 0.2% in the year to December). However, excluding food and energy, annual inflation picked up only marginally, to 1.9%, compared with 1.8% in December.
Rising energy prices pushed up inflation in all major OECD economies in January 2017. Annual inflation picked up markedly in France (to 1.3% in January, up from 0.6% in December), Canada (to 2.1%, up from 1.5%), Italy (to 1.0%, up from 0.5%) and the United States (to 2.5%, up from 2.1%). It also accelerated in Germany (to 1.9%, up from 1.7%), the United Kingdom (to 1.8%, up from 1.6%) and Japan (to 0.4% up from 0.3%).
Euro area annual inflation, as measured by the HICP, increased markedly to 1.8% in January, compared with 1.1% in December 2016. Excluding food and energy, Euro area annual inflation was, stable, however, at 0.9% in January. Eurostat’s flash estimate for February 2017 points to a further increase in overall annual inflation, to 2.0%, in the Euro area, but excluding food and energy, Euro area annual inflation remains stable at 0.9%.
Annual inflation in the G20 area increased to 2.6% in January, compared with 2.3% in December. Among G20 emerging economies, annual inflation increased in Indonesia (to 3.5%, up from 3.0%) and China (to 2.5%, up from 2.1%). On the other hand, it decreased in Brazil (to 5.4%, down from 6.3%), South Africa (to 6.8%, down from 7.1%), Saudi Arabia (to -0.4%, down from 1.7%), the Russian Federation (to 5.0%, down from 5.4%) and India (to 1.9%, down from 2.2%).