AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 12: A customer shops for produce at an H-E-B grocery store on February 12, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
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After the inflation shocks of the coronavirus pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine, the next wave of price increases is knocking at the door amid the war in Iran and the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. headline inflation was sharply up in March to 3.3% — the highest level since May 2024 — on the back of energy price increases. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in early April already warned of the consequences of a prolonged war in the Middle East not just on oil, but also on fertilizer shipments. The FAO’s global food price index ticked up in March as well due to increased energy costs. More severe increases could come up later if farm yields decrease.
While consumers all over the world have been wary of inflation that doesn’t seem to stop, some places have been hit harder than others by it. Data by the OECD shows that inflation rates adjusted to internationally comparable levels over the past six years have been higher in the United States than in most of Western Europe. While the OECD finds that consumer prices in December of 2025 were more than 26% higher in the United States that in December of 2019, that same number was only around 22% in Germany, 19% in Italy and 15% in France. The exception is the United Kingdom, where comparable inflation stood at almost 29% for this time period.
This chart shows consumer price inflation between Dec. 2019 and Dec. 2025 in selected OECD countries (in percent).
Statista
U.S. inflation has become a point of contention in the country and beyond, with consumers despairing over price points like $12 for a McDonald’s combo meal, $4 for a gallon of gas or $6 for a dozen eggs (the last item’s price additionally being driven up by bird flu outbreaks). In comparison to other countries, the United States is also experiencing significantly higher prices in some specific sectors like health care and event tickets, the latter this week found to have experienced monopolistic practices at the hands of concert promoter Live Nation and its ticketing arm Ticketmaster. Finally, the Trump administration’s tariffs have also had an inflationary effect, completing the multitude of price pressures that have hit consumers recently.
However, some nations have suffered even more from inflation since late 2019 despite fewer reports on the topic. According to the OECD, many of these are in Eastern Europe and the developing world. Poland has seen consumer prices inch up by almost 48% since late 2019 — a number that is topped by Hungary at almost 57% and approached by Estonia at 47% as well as Lithuania, Bulgaria and Czechia at 44%. This tops inflation in some major developing countries like Brazil (39%) and India (29%). While Eastern Europe and the Baltics were hit especially hard due dependence on Russian gas, war-related supply chain disruptions and sanctions, high inflation in Brazil has been described as a mix of global pressures, a stronger U.S. dollar opposite the real and a growing economy, which is generally more prone to inflation.
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A nation struggling with seriously high inflation, revealing major structural problems on top of the known global pressures of the past years, is Turkey. Here, prices were up by almost 700% in six years while the lira depreciated rapidly and the country’s leadership failed to adjust policies to rein in the issue. Outside of the OECD, countries experiencing runaway inflation above 100% a year are Zimbabwe, Sudan, Argentina and Venezuela.
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