Inflation balloon
iStockphoto/Cemile Bingol

Headline inflation eased further in June, according to new data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The annual inflation rate in the OECD dropped to 5.6% in June, down from 5.9% in May, the Paris-based group reported.

The OECD noted that this marked the lowest level for consumer inflation since October 2021.

Headline inflation declined in 24 of the OECD’s 38 countries in June, and it dropped below the 2.0% mark in nine countries, compared with six countries in May, the group said.

Declining energy inflation led the way, with the annual rate dropping to 2.3% in June, down from 2.5% in May.

Core inflation, which excludes the food and energy components, dropped below the 6.0% threshold in June, the OECD said. This was the first time core inflation dropped below that level since March 2022, it said.

Food inflation was “broadly stable” in June, it noted.

For the G7 countries, headline inflation also dropped in June, the OECD reported, as the annual rate came in at 2.7% in the month, down a couple of ticks from 2.9% in May, and reaching its lowest level since March 2021.

“Headline inflation declined by 0.2 percentage points or more in the U.S., Canada and Germany and was broadly stable in the remaining G7 countries,” the OECD said.

“Year-on-year, energy prices continued to decline in the G7,” the OECD said. “Core inflation was the main contributor to headline inflation in all G7 countries except for Japan, where it was broadly equal to the combined contribution of food and energy prices.”