OECD area inflation at 2.1 pct in January

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Consumer prices in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area surged 2.1 percent in January on a yearly basis, the organization reported Thursday.

The average annual inflation for 35 OECD countries saw a slowdown in January, compared with 2.4 percent in December 2018.

"Energy prices fell (for the first since October 2016) by minus 0.1 percent in January, compared with a 3.5 percent increase in December.

"Food price inflation and inflation excluding food and energy were both stable in January 2019, at 1.9 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively," the organization said.

Latest data showed that the highest annual inflation this January was seen in Turkey with 20.4 percent, followed by Mexico (4.4 percent) and Iceland (3.4 percent).

The lowest annual rises in consumer prices were seen in Japan (0.2 percent), Greece (0.4 percent), and Portugal (0.5 percent).

OECD figures showed annual inflation fell in all seven major economies -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S.

Among G7 economies, the lowest rate was in Japan while the highest inflation was in the U.K. with 1.8 percent.

Last year, the average annual inflation in the OECD area was 2.1 percent, versus 1.8 percent in 2017.