In March 2016, annual inflation in the OECD area slowed to 0.8%, down from 1.0% in February 2016. This decrease in annual inflation is mainly due to the drop in energy prices (-9.5% in March 2016 compared to -8.9% in February).
Food prices also slowed to 0.7% year-on-year, down from 0.9% in February. Excluding food and energy, annual inflation in the OECD area remained stable at 1.9% in March for the fourth consecutive month.
In March 2016, the situation varied across major economies in the OECD area. Annual inflation decreased more significantly in Japan (-0.1% from 0.3%) and slightly in Canada (1.3% from 1.4%) and the United States (0.9% from 1.0%).
Conversely, annual inflation increased in Germany (0.3% from 0.0%) and the United Kingdom (0.5% from 0.3%) while consumer prices slightly decreased, less than in the previous month, in France (-0.1% year-on-year from -0.2%) and in Italy (-0.2% year-on-year from -0.3%).
In the euro area, annual inflation measured by the HICP stood at 0.0% in March, up from -0.2% in February. Excluding food and energy, annual inflation in the euro area increased to 1.0%. The flash estimate published by Eurostat for April 2016 shows annual inflation at -0.2% in the euro area.
Annual inflation in the G20 area also slowed to 2.3% in March, down from 2.4% in February.
Among non-OECD countries, annual inflation decelerated in the Russian Federation (to 7.3%), Brazil (to 9.4%), and South Africa (to 6.6%).
Annual inflation increased slightly in Saudi Arabia (to 4.3%) and remained stable in China (at 2.3%), Indonesia (at 4.4%), and India (at 5.5%).
