UK Inflation Compared Across the Globe

Published / Last Updated on 24/03/2023

Yesterday, the Bank of England increased interest rates as expected from 4.0% to 4.25% pa following the Federal Reserve increasing rates from a range of 4.5% to 4.75%pa to 4.75% to 5.0% pa.  Last week, the EU Central Bank increased rates from 3.0% to 3.5% pa.

Globally, inflation is stubborn with food supply issues and logistics costs increasing due to industrial action and poor weather hitting vegetable and salad production in Europe.  US inflation is lower at 6.04% pa due to having a tougher approach to interest rates, but the UK headline inflation rate increased to 10.4% pa and Europe’s inflation rate is awaited only falling 0.1% in February to 8.5% pa.  That said, when you look at the European continent, including the UK and EU, you will note that there are only 4 nations in European Economic Area that have inflation below that of the USA, so we have a long way to go:

Country

Last Inflation Rate %

Previous  Rate %

When

Lebanon

190.00

124.00

Feb-23

Venezuela

156.00

157.00

Oct-22

Syria

139.00

134.00

Aug-20

Argentina

102.00

98.80

Feb-23

Zimbabwe

87.60

92.30

Mar-23

Sudan

63.30

83.60

Feb-23

Suriname

55.50

54.56

Jan-23

Turkey

55.18

57.68

Feb-23

Iran

53.40

51.30

Feb-23

Ghana

52.80

53.60

Feb-23

Sri Lanka

50.60

51.70

Feb-23

Haiti

49.30

48.30

Jan-23

Cuba

44.50

42.08

Feb-23

Laos

41.26

40.30

Feb-23

Sierra Leone

38.48

37.09

Jan-23

Ethiopia

32.00

33.90

Feb-23

Egypt

31.90

25.80

Feb-23

Pakistan

31.50

27.60

Feb-23

South Sudan

31.30

14.40

Feb-23

Rwanda

30.30

31.10

Feb-23

Burundi

27.99

28.62

Feb-23

Malawi

26.70

25.90

Feb-23

Moldova

25.90

27.30

Feb-23

Sao Tome and Principe

25.50

25.20

Jan-23

Hungary

25.40

25.70

Feb-23

Ukraine

24.90

26.00

Feb-23

Nigeria

21.91

21.82

Feb-23

Kazakhstan

21.30

20.70

Feb-23

Comoros

20.90

17.70

Dec-22

Latvia

20.30

21.50

Feb-23

Myanmar

19.55

19.42

Jul-22

Lithuania

18.70

20.00

Feb-23

Poland

18.40

16.60

Feb-23

Estonia

17.60

18.60

Feb-23

Turkmenistan

17.50

14.95

Dec-22

Czech Republic

16.70

17.50

Feb-23

Macedonia

16.70

17.10

Feb-23

Congo

16.28

14.06

Jan-23

Kyrgyzstan

16.20

15.30

Feb-23

Serbia

16.10

15.80

Feb-23

Bulgaria

16.00

16.70

Feb-23

Romania

15.52

15.07

Feb-23

Slovakia

15.40

15.20

Feb-23

Montenegro

15.10

16.20

Feb-23

Bosnia and Herzegovina

14.10

14.80

Jan-23

Azerbaijan

14.10

13.60

Feb-23

Gambia

13.64

13.14

Feb-23

Colombia

13.28

13.25

Feb-23

Barbados

12.30

11.30

Dec-22

Mongolia

12.20

12.30

Feb-23

Uzbekistan

12.20

12.20

Feb-23

Croatia

12.00

12.70

Feb-23

Sweden

12.00

11.70

Feb-23

Chile

11.90

12.30

Feb-23

Belarus

11.70

12.00

Feb-23

Angola

11.54

12.55

Feb-23

Madagascar

11.44

10.88

Jan-23

Nicaragua

11.10

10.92

Feb-23

Mauritius

11.00

11.80

Feb-23

Russia

11.00

11.80

Feb-23

Austria

10.90

11.20

Feb-23

Senegal

10.60

12.80

Jan-23

Kosovo

10.50

12.10

Feb-23

Tunisia

10.40

10.20

Feb-23

United Kingdom

10.40

10.10

Feb-23

Mozambique

10.30

9.78

Feb-23

Iceland

10.20

9.90

Feb-23

Morocco

10.10

8.90

Feb-23

Faroe Islands

10.10

8.80

Dec-22

Guatemala

9.92

9.69

Feb-23

European Union

9.90

10.00

Feb-23

Honduras

9.80

8.93

Feb-23

Guinea Bissau

9.70

9.50

Jan-23

Zambia

9.60

9.40

Feb-23

Slovenia

9.30

10.30

Feb-23

Algeria

9.30

9.30

Jan-23

Uganda

9.20

10.40

Feb-23

Kenya

9.20

9.00

Feb-23

Liberia

9.12

7.23

Oct-22

Italy

9.10

10.00

Feb-23

Solomon Islands

9.10

9.60

Dec-22

Botswana

9.10

9.30

Feb-23

Mauritania

9.00

10.30

Feb-23

Finland

8.80

8.40

Feb-23

Bangladesh

8.78

8.57

Feb-23

Germany

8.70

8.70

Feb-23

Trinidad and Tobago

8.70

8.00

Dec-22

Peru

8.65

8.66

Feb-23

Philippines

8.60

8.70

Feb-23

Euro Area

8.50

8.60

Feb-23

Chad

8.50

8.30

Jan-23

Ireland

8.50

7.80

Feb-23

Guinea

8.32

8.60

Jan-23

Portugal

8.20

8.40

Feb-23

Central African Republic

8.10

10.40

Feb-23

Georgia

8.10

9.40

Feb-23

Armenia

8.10

8.10

Feb-23

Netherlands

8.00

7.60

Feb-23

Nepal

7.88

7.26

Feb-23

Jamaica

7.80

8.10

Feb-23

Australia

7.80

7.30

Dec-22

Mexico

7.62

7.91

Feb-23

Denmark

7.60

7.70

Feb-23

Uruguay

7.55

8.05

Feb-23

Lesotho

7.40

6.80

Feb-23

Cameroon

7.32

8.18

Dec-22

Cape Verde

7.30

7.40

Feb-23

New Zealand

7.20

7.20

Dec-22

Namibia

7.20

7.00

Feb-23

Iraq

7.16

4.31

Jan-23

Albania

7.10

7.20

Feb-23

South Africa

7.00

6.90

Feb-23

Malta

7.00

6.80

Feb-23

Paraguay

6.90

7.80

Feb-23

El Salvador

6.82

7.03

Feb-23

East Timor

6.70

7.30

Nov-22

Cyprus

6.70

7.11

Feb-23

Belgium

6.62

8.05

Feb-23

Belize

6.60

6.70

Jan-23

Aruba

6.60

5.70

Jan-23

Guyana

6.59

6.40

Feb-23

India

6.44

6.52

Feb-23

Dominican Republic

6.40

7.24

Feb-23

Norway

6.30

7.00

Feb-23

Singapore

6.30

6.60

Feb-23

France

6.30

6.00

Feb-23

Papua New Guinea

6.25

5.47

Sep-22

Burkina Faso

6.10

8.20

Feb-23

Mali

6.10

7.70

Jan-23

Greece

6.10

7.00

Feb-23

United States

6.00

6.40

Feb-23

Spain

6.00

5.90

Feb-23

Cayman Islands

5.90

9.20

Dec-22

Puerto Rico

5.80

6.00

Jan-23

Swaziland

5.60

5.80

Dec-22

Brazil

5.60

5.77

Feb-23

Costa Rica

5.58

7.65

Feb-23

Indonesia

5.47

5.28

Feb-23

Gabon

5.40

5.60

Dec-22

Somalia

5.40

5.60

Feb-23

Togo

5.20

7.40

Feb-23

Canada

5.20

5.90

Feb-23

Israel

5.20

5.40

Feb-23

Bahamas

4.80

5.48

Jan-23

South Korea

4.80

5.20

Feb-23

Ivory Coast

4.80

5.10

Jan-23

Tanzania

4.80

4.90

Feb-23

United Arab Emirates

4.58

6.77

Jan-23

Tajikistan

4.50

5.20

Nov-22

Eritrea

4.50

4.80

Dec-21

Qatar

4.41

4.20

Feb-23

Bhutan

4.33

4.44

Jan-23

Vietnam

4.31

4.89

Feb-23

Luxembourg

4.30

4.80

Feb-23

Jordan

4.25

3.78

Feb-23

Bermuda

4.10

3.80

Dec-22

Djibouti

4.10

3.50

Jan-23

Libya

4.10

2.90

Dec-22

Palestine

4.03

3.73

Feb-23

Maldives

3.99

3.42

Jan-23

Thailand

3.79

5.02

Feb-23

Malaysia

3.70

3.70

Feb-23

Afghanistan

3.60

5.20

Jan-23

Vanuatu

3.60

2.70

Jun-22

New Caledonia

3.40

4.30

Feb-23

Liechtenstein

3.40

3.30

Feb-23

Switzerland

3.40

3.30

Feb-23

Japan

3.30

4.30

Feb-23

Kuwait

3.22

3.31

Feb-23

Saudi Arabia

3.00

3.40

Feb-23

Cambodia

2.90

3.20

Dec-22

Ecuador

2.90

3.12

Feb-23

Equatorial Guinea

2.90

3.00

Dec-21

Bolivia

2.57

3.14

Feb-23

Taiwan

2.43

3.04

Feb-23

Panama

2.04

2.71

Feb-23

Oman

1.90

1.90

Feb-23

Hong Kong

1.70

2.40

Feb-23

Fiji

1.50

2.50

Feb-23

Brunei

1.40

3.30

Jan-23

Benin

1.20

1.30

Feb-23

Seychelles

1.13

2.39

Feb-23

Niger

1.10

2.00

Feb-23

China

1.00

2.10

Feb-23

Bahrain

0.80

3.60

Jan-23

Macau

0.77

0.77

Feb-23

Source: https://tradingeconomics.com

   

Headline Inflation

When you see doom and gloom headlines that UK inflation is the highest in the G7 nations, take heart that Italy and Germany are not that much below us and only France is closer to US inflation but when looking at a wider EU:  Hungary 25.4% pa, Poland 18.4% pa, Czech Republic 16.70% pa.  In fact, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden all have higher inflation that UK.  That’s half of EU countries have much higher inflation than UK,  5 nations are close to UK and 7 are closer to US inflation.  The EU’s battle with inflation will be much more complex that the UK or USA.

Comment

Clearly Brexit pains and our reliance on imported goods with a weak £ are keeping UK inflation higher than G7 nations but a stronger £ as interest rates increase will make imports cheaper.  We believe Thursday’s interest rate increase, whilst painful for all in terms of borrowing costs, is likely to be one of the last and inflation will fall throughout summer to ease interest rates down. 

‘Keep hauling’, better times will come.

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