Year-on-year headline inflation in the OECD, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), decreased to 3.3% in January 2026, down from 3.6% in December 2025.
Headline inflation declined in 22 out of the 35 OECD countries for which data is available, remained stable in 8, and increased in only 5.
Compared with December 2025, the number of OECD countries experiencing inflation at or below 2% rose from 9 to 15.
Despite the recent slowdown in headline inflation, average price levels across the OECD were 35.6% higher in January 2026 than in December 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
OECD energy inflation fell by 2.1 percentage points (p.p.)
In January 2026, it reached minus 0.6%, marking its first negative value since May 2025. Food inflation also declined by 0.2 p.p.
However, despite these January decreases, energy and food price levels have risen by 40.8% and 47.5%, respectively, since December 2019. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, remained broadly stable in January.
In January, year-on-year headline inflation in the G7 area declined to 2.1%, down from 2.4% in December 2025. France recorded the lowest headline inflation in the G7 at 0.3%, down 0.5 p.p. from December, due to declines in both energy and core inflation.
Headline inflation in Japan fell below 2% in January for the first time since March 2022. In the United States, headline inflation also decreased, reaching 2.4%.
In contrast, Germany saw headline inflation rise from 1.8% to 2.1%. Core inflation was the main driver of headline inflation across all G7 countries, particularly in the United Kingdom, which remains the only G7 country with headline inflation above 3%, despite a 0.4 p.p. drop.
In the euro area, year-on-year headline inflation, as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), fell further to 1.7% in January 2026, down from 2.0% in December.
While energy inflation continued to decline, food and core inflation remained broadly stable. Eurostat’s flash estimate for February 2026 indicates a rise in euro area headline inflation to 1.9%, driven by increases in core and energy inflation.
In the G20, year-on-year headline inflation declined to 3.4% in January 2026, down from 3.6% in December. Among non-OECD G20 economies, headline inflation in China fell to 0.2%, down 0.3 p.p. from January of the previous year, following a year with little overall price growth. Inflation also declined slightly in Saudi Arabia and South Africa, while it rose in Argentina, India, and Indonesia, and remained stable in Brazil.
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