YEAR-ON-YEAR headline inflation in the OECD as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) remained broadly stable at 3.7% in December 2025, compared with 3.8% in November 2025. Headline inflation declined in 13 OECD countries, rose in 9, and remained stable or broadly stable in 16. Food inflation and core inflation (i.e. inflation less food and energy) in the OECD showed little change while energy inflation fell. Average price levels across the OECD as a whole were almost 36% higher in December 2025 than they were in December 2019.
Year-on-year headline inflation in the G7 area was broadly stable at 2.4% in December 2025, after 2.5% in November. Headline inflation declined by 0.8 percentage points (p.p.) in Japan, partly driven by the introduction of new subsidies for gasoline and diesel. This decrease also reflected a base effect, as energy prices had increased significantly in December 2024 due to the withdrawal of previous energy subsidies. Headline inflation also fell in Germany, by 0.5 p.p., but rose in Canada, where the increase largely stemmed from a temporary tax reduction in December 2024. Headline inflation remained stable or broadly stable in the remaining G7 countries in December 2025. Year-on-year core inflation remained the main contributor to headline inflation in most G7 countries in December, except in Japan, where its contribution was broadly equal to that of food and energy combined.
In the euro area, year-on-year headline inflation as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) fell to 1.9% in December 2025, down from 2.1% in November and energy inflation declined further to minus 1.9%. Food inflation rose for the first time since July, while core inflation remained broadly stable, as it has been since May. In January 2026, Eurostat’s flash estimate (now aligned with the 2018 COICOP classification) for the euro area points to a fall in year-on-year headline inflation, to 1.7%, from 2.0% in December with a decline in energy inflation, while core inflation is estimated to have been broadly stable.
In the G20, year-on-year headline inflation remained stable at 3.6% in December. Headline inflation in Brazil declined for the third consecutive month, while it increased in India, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. Headline inflation remained broadly stable in Argentina, China and South Africa.
In 2025, OECD countries were nearly evenly split between those where the annual average headline inflation declined compared with 2024 (13 countries), rose (13), or remained stable or broadly stable (11). Türkiye recorded the highest inflation across the OECD in 2025, at 34.9%, even while falling precipitously from 58.5% in 2024. By contrast, in 2025, annual headline inflation stood at 1% or below in Costa Rica, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and France. |
