Global inflation pressure eased a bit in January, as energy price growth slowed, according to the latest data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. However, Canada saw an uptick.
Consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 2.8% in the year to January 2012, compared with 2.9% in the year to December 2011. “This slight easing in the annual rate of inflation mainly reflected the slower growth in energy prices, which increased by 7.4% in the year to January, down from 8.1% in the year to December,” the Paris-based organization said Tuesday.
Food prices growth also softened a bit, rising by 4.3% in the year to January, down from 4.5% in the year to December. Excluding food and energy, the annual inflation rate rose by 1.9% in January, down from 2.0% in December.
Going against this overall trend, inflation picked up in Canada, the Paris-based OECD reports, rising to 2.5% in January, up from 2.3% in December. It also rose in Japan to 0.1%, up from -0.2% in December.
However, it says that annual inflation decelerated in the United Kingdom for the fifth consecutive month, and it also slowed in the United States, France, and Italy. Overall Euro area annual inflation slowed slightly to 2.6% in the year to January, compared with 2.7% in December.
Annual inflation decelerated sharply in Russia, dropping to 4.2% in the year to January, down from 6.1% in December; and India, falling to 5.3%, down from 6.5% in December, the OECD adds. It also slowed in Brazil and Indonesia and remained stable in South Africa. By contrast, annual inflation accelerated in China in January for the first time since July 2011, to 4.5% up from 4.1% in December.
On a month over month basis, consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 0.2% in January, the group reports. Prices rose by 0.4% in Canada and in the US, 0.3% in Italy and 0.2% in Japan. They decreased by 0.5% in the UK and by 0.4% in France and Germany.