Year-on-year inflation in the OECD as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined to 4.0% in May 2025, from 4.2% in April. This marks the lowest level since June 2021 and represents a drop of 6.7 percentage points (p.p.) from the peak recorded in October 2022 (Figures 1 and 3). While the pace of OECD headline inflation has moderated, average price levels across the OECD continue to rise at almost twice the 2019 average rate and were 33.7% higher than in December 2019 (Table 1 and Figure 2). Prior to this period, it took around 14 years – from July 2005 to late 2019 – for prices to increase by a similar magnitude. Between April and May 2025, headline inflation fell in 15 OECD countries, with Türkiye, the Netherlands and Lithuania seeing the largest decreases (more than 0.5 p.p.). By contrast, it increased in 9 OECD countries, with rises of 0.5 p.p. or more in Czechia, Greece, Mexico, and Norway (Table 1). Headline inflation was stable or broadly stable in the remaining 14 countries.
Year-on-year core inflation (inflation less food and energy) in the OECD fell to 4.4% in May from 4.6% in April, with decreases in 24 OECD countries and rises in only 5 countries, while it remained stable or broadly stable in the remaining 9 countries. Food and energy inflation in the OECD showed little change in May, at 4.6% and minus 0.3%, respectively. However, cumulative increases in both food and energy price levels since December 2019 exceed 40% (Figure 2).
Year-on-year inflation in the G7 remained stable in May, holding at 2.4% for the third consecutive month. Inflation was stable or broadly stable in all countries except in Italy, where headline inflation slowed due to a 0.3 p.p. fall in core inflation and a decrease in energy prices (Figure 3). Across the G7 countries, core inflation remained the primary driver of headline inflation, except in Japan, where the combined contribution of food and energy inflation exceeded that of core inflation (Figure 4).
In the euro area, year-on-year inflation as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) fell to 1.9% in May, from 2.2% in April. This decline was driven by a slowdown in core inflation to 2.3% in May, its lowest level since January 2022, including a 0.8 p.p. decline of services inflation. While food inflation continued to rise in the euro area, energy prices fell year-on-year at the same pace as in April. In June 2025, according to Eurostat’s flash estimate, year-on-year headline inflation in the euro area remained broadly stable at 2.0%, with a slowing decline in energy prices, while core inflation is estimated to have remained stable.
In the G20, year-on-year inflation fell to 3.9% in May from 4.1% in April. Headline inflation declined in Brazil and Indonesia, while it remained stable or broadly stable in China, India, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. In Argentina, inflation continued to decline, reaching 43.5% – 6 times lower than a year earlier (Table 2).
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