2024-02-15 07:25:20
Argentina started the year with a new record: in January, it had one of the highest monthly inflations in the world. This Wednesday, the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) announced that the cost of living increased by 20.6% compared to December and 254.2% year-on-year. Although the figure represented a slowdown compared to the previous month, these are values only comparable with the exit from hyperinflation in 1991.
It is a figure that contrasts with the rest of the world. Last year, Argentina closed the year with the highest inflation in the world, with 211.4%, followed by Venezuela (193%), Lebanon (192.26%) and Turkey (64.8%).
In the case of Venezuela, in January the consumer price index increased by 4.2% monthly, according to the Venezuelan Finance Observatory, an independent entity of the State. Compared to January 2023, prices rose by 121%. “These figures reflect the persistence of inflation in Venezuela and the difficulties of reducing it in a sustained manner,” the entity analyzed.
Another globally high monthly figure was presented in Turkey, where inflation shot up to 6.7% monthly, the largest increase since August 2023. In the last year, prices there rose by 64.86%.
While in Zimbabwe, another country with a high inflationary regime, the cost of living accelerated in January by 6.6% compared to December and 34% year-on-year. In the coming days, inflation in Lebanon will be known. Although last year it was crowned with the third highest inflation in the world, in recent months it has shown signs of slowing down: it was 2.6% monthly in November and 0.02 % in December.
Latin American inflation
In the rest of the region, inflation is usually measured in year-on-year terms, since monthly data does not usually exceed 1%. This is the case of Uruguay, where the consumer price index registered an increase of 1.53% and accumulated 5.09% in the last 12 months.
On the other side of the Andes Mountains, in Chile the figure caused surprise because it rose more than expected by the market, at a rate of 0.7% monthly and 3.8% compared to January 2023. While in the neighbor Brazil, last month marked a price increase of 0.6% compared to December and accumulated 3.8% in the last twelve months.
In Colombia, the authorities celebrated that the monthly figure was 0.92% and accumulated an increase of 8.35% year-on-year, the lowest figure since February 2022, when prices accelerated after the crisis generated by the covid pandemic. -19. In Paraguay, inflation was also 0.9% monthly and 3.4% annually.
The data is repeated throughout Latin America. If you look at Mexico, in January it had an increase of 0.89% compared to the previous month and 4.88% over the last year. Meanwhile, in Peru, the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) announced that the consumer price index rose 0.02% compared to January and 3.02% compared to December of the previous year.
In Bolivia, the cost of living increased by 0.08% monthly and 1.86% in one year. While in Ecuador they registered an inflation of 0.13% compared to last January and ended with an increase of 1.35% in 12 months.
In Costa Rica, although the consumer price index moved 0.06% monthly, in the last year it presented a negative figure of -1.87%. While in El Salvador, the Central Reserve Bank (BCR) reported that there was an inflation of 0.33% monthly and 1.21% year-on-year.
Finally, Honduras began 2024 with a price increase of 0.24% compared to January and 5% compared to January 2023, which is why it was located within the Central Bank’s “inflation tolerance range” for the first time since November 2021. In Guatemala, economy prices rose 0.11% compared to December and accumulated 4.18% in the last year.