Consumer inflation was broadly stable in August, according to the latest data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Paris-based OECD reports that consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 3.2% in the year to August, more or less unchanged from 3.1% in July.

“The broad stability in the headline rate reflected stable inflation in all major components of the CPI,” it says, noting that energy price inflation remained stable at 13.5%, and food prices rose by 4.6%, up slightly from 4.5% in July. Excluding food and energy, the annual inflation rate rose by 1.8% in August, compared with 1.7% in July.

Inflation picked up in August in Canada (3.1% compared to 2.7% in July) and France (2.2% compared to 1.9%) but at rates broadly unchanged from those recorded in June, the OECD notes. It also accelerated slightly in the United States (rising to 3.8%, up from 3.6%), the UK (to 4.5%, up from 4.4%), and Italy (to 2.8%, up from 2.7%). It was stable in Germany (2.4%), Japan (0.2%), and the Euro area (HICP) (2.5%).

In China, annual inflation slowed to 6.2% in the year to August after four consecutive months of increase. It also slowed in Russia and South Africa but accelerated in India, Brazil and Indonesia.

On a month over month basis, consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 0.2% in August. Prices rose by 0.6% in the UK, 0.5% in France, 0.3% in Canada, Italy, and the US, 0.2 % Japan, and they were stable in Germany.

IE