Paris: Annual consumer inflation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area eased to 4% in May from 4.2% in April, according to data released on Thursday. This marks the slowest rate since June 2021 and represents a 6.7 percentage point drop from the peak observed in October 2022.
According to Anadolu Agency, inflation declined in 15 of the 38 OECD countries, remaining stable or broadly unchanged in 14. However, nine OECD countries experienced a rise in inflation, with notable increases exceeding 0.5 percentage points in the Czech Republic, Greece, Mexico, and Norway. OECD energy inflation remained stable at minus 0.3% in May, while food inflation was at 4.6%. The OECD noted that cumulative increases in both food and energy price levels since December 2019 exceed 40%.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, slowed to 4.4% in May from 4.6%. In the Group of Seven (G7), annual inflation remained steady for the third consecutive month at 2.4%. Italy saw a slowdown in inflation due to a 0.3 percentage point fall in core inflation and a drop in energy prices. 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 surpassed that of core inflation.
In the Group of 20 (G20), inflation fell to 3.9% in May, down from 4.1% in April. Consumer prices decreased in Brazil and Indonesia, while they remained stable or broadly stable in China, India, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. In Argentina, inflation continued to decline, reaching 43.5%, which is six times lower than a year earlier.
In the eurozone, annual inflation measured by the Harmonized 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 percentage point fall in 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. According to the OECD, in June 2025, Eurostat’s flash estimate reported that 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.