Annual change in CPI 2015-2026, by country

Annual change in CPI by country, 2015 to 2026

The annual change in consumer prices spiked worldwide in 2022, reaching about 8.6 percent globally, the highest in four decades, before easing to around 3.6 percent by 2026. The United States, United Kingdom and Germany all saw consumer price inflation surge past 8 percent and then fall back toward target.

The rise and fall of inflation between 2015 and 2026 is one of the defining economic stories of the decade, felt in every household through the cost of living.

On IMF figures, global inflation rose from under 3 percent before 2021 to about 8.6 percent in 2022, then fell to 6.6 percent in 2023, 4.2 percent in 2025 and around 3.6 percent in 2026.

This account of the annual change in consumer prices from 2015 to 2026 traces the great price spike of the 2020s, from low inflation to a 40-year peak and back toward target.

The annual change in consumer prices from 2015 to 2026 traces a dramatic arc, from years of very low inflation to the sharpest price spike in a generation and a slow return toward target.

The path of consumer price inflation from 2015 to 2026, from calm to crisis and back, is one of the defining economic stories of the decade for households everywhere. Few economic stories of recent years have touched more people more directly than the burst of inflation that swept the world in 2022 and the slow retreat that followed.

This is the story of the great price spike of the 2020s, measured by the annual change in the consumer price index. We set it in context alongside our work on regional GDP and inflation.

The great price spike: inflation surged worldwide in 2022, reaching about 8.6 percent globally, then eased toward target by 2026 in most advanced economies.

The pattern was shared but uneven, with China near deflation and Turkey in double digits, a divergence you can trace through our global inflation data and the countries with the highest inflation of all.

A note on the data. The figures show the annual change in the consumer price index in selected countries from 2015 to 2026, as a percentage, based on the IMF World Economic Outlook. The CPI measures the change in the price of a basket of household goods and services, and 2025 to 2026 figures are estimates.

The IMF World Economic Outlook is the standard source for consumer price inflation, and its data underpins this account of the price spike of the 2020s. The CPI is the most widely used gauge of inflation, tracking the prices households actually pay for food, energy, housing, transport and other goods and services.

CPI Inflation by Country: 2026 vs 2022

The table shows the annual change in consumer prices in selected countries in 2026 alongside the 2022 peak. It shows inflation returning toward target in most advanced economies after the surge of 2022.

How High Did Inflation Spike in 2022?

Inflation spiked in 2022 across the advanced world. The United Kingdom reached about 9.1 percent, Germany 8.7 percent and the United States 8 percent, while global inflation hit around 8.6 percent, the highest annual rate since the early 1980s.

The inflation spike of 2022 was the sharpest in four decades, ending a long era of low and stable prices across the advanced world. In 2022 the United Kingdom reached about 9.1 percent, Germany 8.7 percent, the United States 8 percent and global inflation around 8.6 percent, the highest since the early 1980s.

The 2022 surge was a global event, hitting almost every economy at once, though its size and persistence varied widely from country to country. The energy shock that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 turned a rising inflation trend into the sharpest price spike in four decades.

Understanding what drove the 2022 spike, from energy to supply chains to demand, is essential to grasping the inflation story of the decade. The 2022 inflation spike, the sharpest in four decades, ended a long era of low and stable prices and forced central banks into the fastest rate rises in a generation.

At its 2022 peak, inflation was eroding household budgets faster than at any time since the early 1980s, with energy and food bills rising especially sharply. Central banks, caught off guard by the speed of the surge, were forced to abandon years of near-zero rates almost overnight to regain control of prices.

The surge was driven by energy prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, tangled supply chains and strong demand after the pandemic, forces that rippled through the whole world economy.

The 40-year high: in 2022 the United Kingdom reached about 9.1 percent inflation, Germany 8.7 percent, the United States 8 percent and the world 8.6 percent.

For most households it was the sharpest rise in the cost of living in a generation, as the price of energy, food and housing climbed together, a painful squeeze that reshaped household budgets and politics across the advanced economies.

The scale of the 2022 spike, with prices rising at rates not seen since the early 1980s, reshaped economic policy and household budgets across the advanced world.

How Low Was Inflation Before 2021?

Before the spike, inflation was strikingly low. From 2015 to 2020, consumer prices in advanced economies rose only slowly, often below the 2 percent target, with the United States, United Kingdom and Germany all sitting near or under the 2 percent target.

The years of very low inflation before 2021 made the sudden surge of 2022 all the more shocking to households and policymakers alike. For much of the 2010s, central banks worried more about inflation being too low than too high, a concern that now seems to belong to another era.

The years of near-zero inflation before 2021 lulled households and policymakers into treating stable prices as the natural order of things. For most of the decade after the 2008 financial crisis, central banks fought to push inflation up toward target, not down, a world away from the battles of 2022.

The long period of low inflation reflected weak demand, cheap energy and globalisation, a backdrop of ultra-low interest rates that left central banks more worried about weak prices than high ones.

A low-inflation era: from 2015 to 2020, inflation in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany was mostly near or below the 2 percent target.

This low-inflation era, which ran for years after the 2008 financial crisis, made the sudden spike of 2022 all the more shocking, since many had come to assume that high inflation was a thing of the past. The assumption that high inflation had been permanently tamed, common before 2021, was overturned in a single dramatic year.

What Caused the 2022 Inflation Spike?

The 2022 spike had several causes at once. Energy prices soared after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, global supply chains were still tangled from the pandemic, and demand rebounded strongly as economies reopened, all pushing prices up together.

Governments had also pumped huge sums into their economies during the pandemic, and as spending recovered faster than supply, too much money chased too few goods, adding to the upward pressure on prices across the advanced world.

The causes: the 2022 spike was driven by energy prices, supply-chain disruption, fiscal stimulus, pent-up demand and rising wages, on an indexed scale.

Rising wages, as workers sought to keep pace with the cost of living, then fed back into prices, creating a risk that high inflation would become entrenched, which is why central banks responded so forcefully with higher interest rates.

How Fast Has Inflation Fallen Since 2022?

Since 2022, inflation has fallen steadily. Global inflation eased from about 8.6 percent in 2022 to 6.6 percent in 2023, 4.2 percent in 2025 and around 3.6 percent in 2026, as central banks raised interest rates sharply and global energy prices fell back.

The steady fall in inflation since 2022 has been one of the central achievements, and challenges, of economic policy in the 2020s. Global inflation fell from about 8.6 percent in 2022 to 6.6 percent in 2023, 5.8 percent in 2024, 4.2 percent in 2025 and around 3.6 percent in 2026.

The fall in inflation since 2022 owes much to the fastest series of interest-rate rises in decades, as central banks fought to bring prices under control. The steady disinflation since 2022 has been hard-won, achieved through aggressive interest-rate rises that slowed economies to bring prices back under control.

By 2024 global inflation had roughly halved from its peak, and by 2026 most advanced economies had brought it back within touching distance of their 2 percent targets. Yet the last stretch of disinflation, from around 4 percent back to 2, has proved the hardest, as services and housing costs keep rising stubbornly.

The scale of the turnaround, from a 40-year high to near target in barely three years, ranks among the more striking episodes in modern monetary history.

The disinflation reflects tighter monetary policy and easing energy costs, you can see the turn early in producer prices, which cooled well before shop prices did.

The disinflation: global inflation fell from about 8.6 percent in 2022 to around 3.6 percent by 2026, as central banks raised rates and energy prices eased.

By 2026, inflation in the United States, United Kingdom and the euro area is close to the 2 percent target, though it has proved stickier than central banks hoped, with services and housing costs still rising faster than the prices of goods.

The stickiness of services and housing inflation, even as goods prices eased, is why the return to target has been slower than central banks hoped.

How Did US Inflation Change From 2015 to 2026?

In the United States, inflation rose from about 1.2 percent in 2020 to 8 percent in 2022, then fell to about 2.4 percent in 2026, close to the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target. The US path from an 8 percent peak back toward 2 percent captures the wider story of the disinflation of the 2020s.

US inflation ran near 1 to 2 percent through the late 2010s, spiked to about 8 percent in 2022, and eased to 4.1 percent in 2023, 2.9 percent in 2024 and about 2.4 percent in 2026.

The United States, where inflation rose earliest and fell steadily, offers the clearest single case study of the price spike and the disinflation that followed. The US experience, where inflation rose first and fell steadily, offers the clearest single case study of the price spike and the disinflation that followed it.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates from near zero to over 5 percent in barely eighteen months, the fastest tightening in decades, to break the back of US inflation. For American families, the spike meant sharply higher bills for groceries, petrol and rent, squeezing budgets even as wages rose, and it became a central political issue.

The US path from spike to near-target is the clearest example of the disinflation of the 2020s, and it hit the American cost of living harder than any shock in decades.

Spike and return: US inflation rose from about 1.2 percent in 2020 to 8 percent in 2022, then fell to about 2.4 percent by 2026.

US inflation has proved sticky in services such as housing and health care, and tariffs may add fresh pressure, which is why the US Federal Reserve has remained cautious about cutting interest rates too quickly. The persistence of US services inflation, and the threat of new tariffs, has kept the Federal Reserve cautious about declaring victory over inflation.

Why Did China and Japan Differ?

Not every country followed the same path. China has flirted with deflation, with prices barely rising, while Japan finally saw inflation return after decades near zero, and Turkey ran double-digit inflation throughout. The very different inflation paths of China, Japan and Turkey show that the global price spike, though widely shared, was far from uniform.

In 2026 China's inflation is about 0.7 percent, Japan's about 2.3 percent and Turkey's near 18.5 percent, against roughly 2 percent in the United States and Germany. While the advanced economies battled the highest inflation in a generation, China faced the opposite problem of prices that would barely rise at all.

The starkly different inflation paths of China, Japan and Turkey show that a global price shock can play out in completely different ways from one economy to the next. China's brush with deflation, driven by a property slump and weak consumer demand, stands as the mirror image of the inflation that gripped the West.

These divergent paths are a reminder that inflation is shaped as much by each country's own demand, currency and policy as by global forces.

China's near-deflation reflects weak demand, while Japan's inflation marks a historic shift, a split that runs deep, from the China economy to the German economy.

Diverging paths: China flirted with deflation while Japan saw inflation return after decades, a very different path from the United States.

The divergence shows that the global price spike, though widely shared, played out very differently across economies, from near-deflation in China to persistent double-digit inflation in Turkey and Argentina. The contrast between near-deflation in China and hyperinflation in Venezuela shows the extraordinary range of inflation experience across the world.

Is Inflation Higher in Emerging Economies?

Emerging economies have faced higher inflation than advanced ones. As a group, emerging-market inflation stayed near 5 percent in 2026, well above the roughly 2 percent in advanced economies, and far higher in the worst-hit countries. The persistent gap between inflation in emerging and advanced economies is one of the clearest divides in the global price picture.

The higher inflation of the emerging world reflects weaker currencies, structural pressures and, in the worst cases, deep fiscal and monetary problems. The persistent gap between emerging and advanced-economy inflation reflects deeper differences in currencies, credibility and economic structure.

In the hardest-hit emerging economies, from Turkey to Argentina, inflation stayed in double or even triple digits, driven by currency collapses and loose policy. This divide means that while a family in Germany or the United States saw prices climb sharply then steady, a family in a high-inflation emerging economy faced relentless increases year after year.

Structural pressures and weaker currencies keep emerging-market inflation higher, a familiar burden for many emerging economies, where GDP per capita is lower and prices less anchored.

A persistent gap: emerging-market inflation stayed well above advanced-economy inflation throughout, near 5 percent against about 2 percent in 2026.

At the extreme, a handful of countries face very high or hyperinflation, from Turkey and Argentina to Venezuela, where prices rise by hundreds of percent a year, a world away from the near-target inflation now seen across most advanced economies.

The gulf between near-target inflation in advanced economies and triple-digit inflation in the worst-hit countries is among the widest in the global economy.

Are Prices Still Higher After the Spike?

The spike left prices permanently higher. Even as inflation falls, the price level does not, so consumer prices in the United States and United Kingdom are roughly a third higher in 2026 than in 2015. The permanent rise in the price level, even as inflation falls, is why many households still feel the squeeze of the 2022 spike.

Because prices do not fall when inflation eases, consumer prices in the United States and United Kingdom are roughly a third higher in 2026 than they were in 2015. The permanent step up in the price level, left behind even as inflation falls, is the reason so many households still feel worse off than before the spike.

A basket of goods that cost 100 dollars in 2015 costs around 134 dollars in the United States by 2026, and that higher level is not expected to come back down. This gap between a falling inflation rate and a still-elevated cost of living is one of the most politically charged features of the post-spike economy.

Falling inflation means prices rise more slowly, not that they fall, a distinction that matters greatly, since the cost of living stays high even as the rate of inflation eases.

Prices stay higher: even as inflation falls, the price level does not, so US and UK prices are roughly a third higher in 2026 than in 2015.

This is why many households still feel squeezed even though inflation has come down, because the cumulative rise in prices since 2015, especially the surge of 2022, has not been reversed and is not expected to be. The gap between falling inflation and a still-high cost of living is one of the most misunderstood features of the post-spike economy.

What Is the Outlook for Inflation?

Inflation is expected to keep easing. Global inflation is projected to fall toward 3 percent over the next few years, with advanced economies near their 2 percent targets and emerging economies gradually converging downward. The outlook for inflation, still uncertain, will shape interest rates, wages and living standards across the world for years to come.

The path of inflation from here will shape interest rates, borrowing costs and living standards across the world for years to come. Much depends on whether energy prices stay calm, whether new tariffs push costs up, and whether wage growth settles back to a pace consistent with 2 percent inflation.

The outlook depends on energy prices, tariffs and wage growth, risks that hang over the global economy and its GDP growth alike.

The extreme end: while advanced economies neared target, Turkey, Argentina and others faced double or triple-digit inflation in 2026.

Whether inflation settles at target or stays a little above it will shape interest rates and living standards for years, and central banks remain wary of cutting rates before inflation is firmly back under control.

CPI Inflation in Numbers

A few figures capture the picture. Global inflation peaked at about 8.6 percent in 2022, the highest in four decades, before easing to around 3.6 percent in 2026, with US inflation at 2.4 percent and China near zero. These figures together capture a world that lived through the sharpest inflation in a generation and is slowly returning to normal.

These figures matter because inflation, and the higher prices it leaves behind, shapes interest rates, wages and the cost of living for everyone. These figures together tell the story of the sharpest burst of inflation in a generation, and of the long, uneven return toward stable prices.

No economic indicator of the 2020s has been watched more closely, or felt more widely, than the annual change in consumer prices.

These figures matter because inflation shapes interest rates, wages and the cost of living, which is why we break it down by world region too.

Back to the start: after the 2022 spike, inflation in most advanced economies has returned close to its low 2015 level.

Together they describe a world that lived through the sharpest inflation in a generation and is slowly returning to normal, though prices remain permanently higher than before. For now, inflation has eased back toward target in the advanced world, but the higher price level left by the 2022 spike is here to stay.

CPI Inflation 2015-2026: The Big Picture

Taken together, the annual change in consumer prices from 2015 to 2026 tells the story of the great price spike of the 2020s, from low inflation before 2021 to a peak of about 8.6 percent in 2022 and a slow return toward target by 2026.

The whole arc: the full path of inflation from 2015 to 2026 shows the low years, the 2022 spike and the slow return toward target.

Whether inflation settles at target will depend on energy, tariffs and wages, but the surge of 2022 has left prices permanently higher, a legacy that will shape economies and household budgets for years to come.

Frequently Asked Questions: CPI Inflation