OECD inflation picks up to 1.8 percent last month

PARIS

Consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 1.8 percent in the year to June 2013 compared with 1.5 percent in the year to May 2013, the OECD announced by a written statement yesterday.

This increase in the annual rate of inflation was driven by higher energy and food prices, the OECD noted.

Energy prices increased by 3.4 percent in the year to June compared with 0.5 percent in May. Food price inflation was 2.2 percent in the year to June compared with 1.9 percent in May, according to the OECD data. Excluding food and energy, the OECD annual inflation rate slowed to 1.4 percent in June, compared with 1.5 percent in May.

Annual inflation picked up in all major OECD economies in June 2013, for instance to 1.2 percent in Canada and to 0.2 percent in Japan.