Driven by rising food prices, inflation continued to head higher in October, according to new data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The annual consumer inflation rate hit 10.7% in October, the OECD reported, up from 10.5% the previous month.
Almost half of the 38 OECD countries recorded double-digit inflation in October, with rates of over 20% in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Hungary and Turkey leading the way.
Higher food prices were the primary driver, with inflation in that segment reaching its highest level since 1974 at 16.1%, up from 15.3% in September.
By contrast, energy inflation continued its retreat, with the annual rate sliding to 28.1% in October, from 28.8%.
Excluding food and energy, annual core inflation for the OECD was stable at 7.6% in October.
For the G20, annual headline inflation was also stable in October at 9.5%. In the G7, inflation edged up to 7.8% from 7.7% in September.
“Among G7 economies, inflation continued to decrease in the United States, while it was stable in Canada and increased in the remaining countries,” the OECD reported.
Food and energy prices were the primary sources of inflation in Europe and Japan, the OECD said, whereas core inflation was the primary driver of higher prices in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., it noted.