Inflation remains subdued according to the latest data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which reports that annual inflation in the OECD area slowed to 1.3% in April.
Consumer prices in the OECD area rose at their slowest annual rate since October 2009, the Paris–based group notes, as energy prices fell by 1.3% in the year to April, compared with an increase of 0.9% in March.
While annual food price inflation accelerated to 2.0% in April, up from 1.7% in March, excluding food and energy, the OECD annual inflation rate slowed to 1.4% in April, compared with 1.6% in March, it says.
Annual inflation slowed in all of the major economies in April, the OECD reports. The rate dropped to 0.4% in Canada, down from 1.0% in March. It was down to 1.1% in the United States from 1.5% in the previous month; and, it also slowed in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. While in Japan, deflation continued with consumer prices falling by 0.7% in the year to April.
Outside the OECD area, the inflation picture was more mixed, it notes. The OECD reports that annual inflation decreased in India, Indonesia, Brazil, and South Africa. But, it picked up in China and Russia.
On a month over month basis, consumer prices in the OECD area were stable overall in April, it says; with prices falling by 0.5% in Germany, 0.2% in Canada, and 0.1% in France and the U.S., but rising in the UK and Japan. In Italy prices were stable.