OECD December Inflation Lowest Since 2009

Consumer price inflation in the developed economies was the lowest in five years during December, dampened by falling energy prices, figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed Tuesday.

The consumer price index climbed 1.1 percent annually in December following 1.5 percent in November. The latest annual inflation figure was the lowest since October 2009, when prices rose just 0.2 percent.

This decrease was entirely caused by further falls in energy prices that declined by 6.3 percent in December compared with a decrease of 2.2 percent in November, the Paris-based think tank said.

Food price inflation was steady at 2.5 percent in December.

Excluding food and energy, core inflation was also stable at 1.8 percent in December.

During December, inflation slowed or was stable in all major OECD economies. According to preliminary estimates, inflation in the euro area was the weakest since mid-2009 in January. Data from Eurostat today showed that producer prices fell at the fastest pace in five years in December.

Meanwhile, inflation in the Group of 20 countries accelerated to 2.8 percent in December from 2.4 percent in November. Excluding the re-integration of Argentinian data, annual inflation climbed to 2.5 percent from 2.4 percent.

Inflation rose sharply in Russia, Indonesia and India during December.

Published: 2015-02-03 14:09:00 UTC+00

OECD December Inflation Lowest Since 2009