OECD April Consumer Prices Soar 9.2% Year-on-Year... Food Up 11.5%

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The consumer price inflation rate among OECD member countries continued its steep rise in April.

According to the OECD on the 2nd (local time), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of OECD member countries surged by 9.2% in April compared to the same month last year. This exceeded the 8.8% recorded in March once again. Since the consumer price inflation rate reached 7.2% in January, the highest level in 31 years since February 1991, the monthly rate of increase has been growing.

The annual OECD CPI inflation rate excluding food and energy also rose to 6.3%, up from 5.9% the previous month.

The OECD diagnosed that food price inflation within member countries continues its steep upward trend. In April alone, food prices rose by 11.5%, accelerating from the 10.0% increase in the previous month. Service prices are also rising faster in most member countries. Among the member countries, the service price inflation rate reached 4.4% year-on-year in 33 countries, higher than the 3.9% recorded in March.

However, the OECD also explained that the rise in food and service prices was partially offset by a slight slowdown in the energy price inflation rate, which was 32.5% in April compared to 33.7% in March.