July 05, 2021: Consumer prices inflation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area rose 3.8% year-on-year in May, the body said on Monday. The figure in April was 3.3%.

Energy prices rose by 18.6% in May — the highest rate since September 2008 — compared to 16.3% in April, while food price inflation continued to slow down to 1.4%, from 1.6% in April.

“Developments in energy and food prices are largely related to base year effects and to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago,” the global organization noted.

Annual OECD inflation excluding food and energy also rose significantly to 2.9% in May, compared to 2.4% in April. The May figure was the highest since August 2002.

AA/APP

42077