Inflation in OECD area hits a 30-year high, ‘reflecting in part another sharp rise in Turkey’

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced the consumer price index for February 2022 today (April 5).

 

According to the monthly report of the OECD, the year-on-year inflation in the OECD area rose to 7.7 percent in February 2022, compared with 7.2 percent in January 2022, and just 1.7 percent in February 2021, reaching its highest inflation rate since December 1990.

 

The OECD has noted that “this increase reflected in part another sharp rise in inflation in Turkey, increasing from 48.7 percent in January to 54.4 percent in February”. Excluding Turkey, the OECD has noted, inflation in the OECD area rose to 6.3 percent, following 5.8 percent in January.

 

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), which announced the official consumer inflation rate for February 2022 on March 3, the annual consumer inflation rate was 54.4 percent, which was also used by the OECD in calculating the inflation rate in the OECD area.

 

 

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Notable increase in food price inflation

Sharing further details about inflation rates, the OECD has commented that “while energy continued to boost inflation in a majority of OECD countries, food price inflation also showed a notable increase”. According to the report, “excluding food and energy, year-on-year inflation in the OECD area increased to 5.5 percent, after 5.1 percent in January 2022”.

 

Year-on-year inflation in the G20 area also increased in February 2022, reaching 6.8 percent compared with 6.5 percent in January 2022. Outside the OECD area, year-on-year inflation rose significantly in Argentina. It was stable in China and South Africa while it decreased in India.

 

Increase in all G7 economies

Some other highlights from the OECD report are as follows:

 

“In February, year-on-year inflation increased in all G7 economies. The largest increases, by 0.9 and 0.8 percentage points, were recorded in Italy and France, and the lowest increase, by 0.2 percentage point, was recorded in Germany. In the United States, year-on-year inflation, at 7.9 percent, reached its highest rate since January 1982.

 

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“Inflation excluding food and energy was the main driver of overall inflation in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, while energy was the main contributor to inflation in France and Italy.

 

“In the euro area, overall inflation as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), rose to 5.9 percent in February 2022, compared with 5.1 percent in January 2022, and just 0.9 percent in February 2021. Excluding food and energy, inflation in the euro area increased to 2.7 percent in February, compared with 2.3 percent in January.

 

“Eurostat’s flash estimate for the euro area in March 2022 points to both year-on-year inflation and inflation excluding food and energy rising further to 7.5 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively”.

 

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Published By: Atilla Yeşilada

GlobalSource Partners’ Turkey Country Analyst Atilla Yesilada is the country’s leading political analyst and commentator. He is known throughout the finance and political science world for his thorough and outspoken coverage of Turkey’s political and financial developments. In addition to his extensive writing schedule, he is often called upon to provide his political expertise on major radio and television channels. Based in Istanbul, Atilla is co-founder of the information platform Istanbul Analytics and is one of GlobalSource’s local partners in Turkey. In addition to his consulting work and speaking engagements throughout the US, Europe and the Middle East, he writes regular columns for Turkey’s leading financial websites VATAN and www.paraanaliz.com and has contributed to the financial daily Referans and the liberal daily Radikal.