Inflation in OECD countries soars to 9.2%

Year-on-year increase in consumer prices driven by surging food and energy costs

A customer shops at a market in Madrid as inflation surged to 9.2 per cent across OECD countries in April. AP.

Inflation soared to 9.2 per cent in OECD countries in April, driven by a rise in the cost of services and food.

The rate is up from the 8.8 per cent annual increase in consumer prices recorded in March, according to OECD data released on Thursday.

The increase in the price of food strongly picked up, reaching 11.5 per cent year-on-year, partly driven by the war in Ukraine.

Services prices saw an average rise of 4.4 per cent year-on-year across 33 OECD countries, compared with 3.9 per cent in March.

These increases were partly offset by a temporary deceleration in energy prices to 32.5 per cent year-on-year in April, some 1.2 points lower than March

Excluding food and energy, year-on-year inflation increased to 6.3 per cent in April, compared with 5.9 per cent in March.

Nine OECD countries recorded double-digit inflation rates, with the highest experienced in Turkey and Estonia.

Inflation dropped in five OECD countries, including Italy, Spain and the US.