Despite accelerating food prices, OECD headline inflation declines to 4.2% in March 2025

Year-on-year inflation in the OECD as measured by the Consumer Price Index decreased to 4.2% from 4.5% in February, reaching its lowest level since July 2021. It declined in 18 of 38 OECD countries, with the largest falls in Estonia, Hungary, Norway and Türkiye. In March, headline inflation was lower than 1.0% in Finland, France, Sweden and Switzerland.

Year-on-year OECD food inflation rose to 4.8% in March from 4.4% in February, with increases in more than two-thirds of OECD countries, including Chile, Greece, the Netherlands and Türkiye where rises in food inflation reached 2.0 percentage points or more. This was outweighed by a fall in OECD energy inflation to 3.0% in March from 3.8% in February, and a small decline in OECD core inflation (inflation less food and energy) to 4.5% in March from 4.7% in February, reaching its lowest level since November 2021.