Global Inflation Comparison

This interactive chart shows the year-over-year Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rates for all G7 countries from 2000 to 2025.
Inflation measures how much consumer prices increase over time, affecting everything from groceries to mortgages. Tracking inflation across countries helps investors, policymakers, and analysts understand global economic trends.

Click the “Enter series to show” box to choose either a subset or all of the countries.

Update schedule: This chart is updated monthly, typically at the end of each month, after all G7 countries release their official CPI/HICP reports.
Last updated: July 31, 2025
Covers data through: June 2025

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How Inflation is Calculated

• Inflation is measured by comparing this year’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) to the same period last year:

  • YoY Inflation (%) = ((CPI_{current year month} – CPI_{last year month}) / CPI_{last year month}) × 100

• CPI reflects the average price change for a “basket” of consumer goods and services.

• Year-over-year (YoY) CPI is standard for international comparison because it smooths out seasonal effects.

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CPI vs. HICP vs. Core Inflation

• CPI (Consumer Price Index) – Used in U.S., Canada, U.K., Japan

• HICP (Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices) – Used for Eurozone countries (Germany, France, Italy) to ensure a comparable methodology across Europe

• Core Inflation – Excludes volatile categories (like food and energy) but is not used here because each country defines “core” differently

Why we chose these metrics:
To make this G7 chart as apples-to-apples as possible, we use headline CPI or HICP YoY rates from each country’s official statistics.

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Why International Inflation Comparisons Can Be Tricky

• Basket differences: U.S. CPI might weigh housing more heavily than Japan, where housing markets behave differently.

• Energy sensitivity: European HICP is more directly impacted by energy price swings than U.S. CPI.

• Currency effects: Inflation reflects local purchasing power, so comparing Japan (yen) to the U.S. (dollar) isn’t 1:1 for consumers.

Despite these differences, YoY CPI or HICP remains the best global comparison metric, especially for spotting major trends like the 2008 financial crisis and the 2021–2022 global inflation spike.