Global Inflation Rises in February and March, Marking a Shift in Trends

World and Country Group CPI Aggregates, March 2026

Contributors: Abdulrahman Gweder and Ragnhild Nygaard

Global headline inflation rose for a second consecutive month, from 3.7 percent in January to 4.1 percent in February and further to 4.3 percent in March 2026. Following a slight downward path through much of 2024 and 2025, global inflation has edged up in recent months, reflecting renewed price pressures. By the end of the first quarter, inflation began to accelerate due to increasing energy and fuel prices driven by heightened War in the Middle East.

The latest increase in inflation was broadly based across regions. All regions showed a notable rise in inflation rates, with the exception of Asia, where inflation increased earlier in the year, but remained unchanged at 4.0 percent from February to March. Within Asia, developments varied considerably across countries, where price movements in China in particular, dampened the regional average. Globally, a majority of countries recorded higher annual inflation in March compared with February, although the magnitude of the increase differed considerably across countries.

In the Americas, annual inflation increased from 3.8 percent in February to 4.5 percent in March. Since December 2025, when annual inflation stood at 3.3 percent, inflation has strengthened considerably. In Europe, the annual inflation rate increased from 2.9 percent to 3.4 percent, with more than 95 percent of the countries recording higher inflation in the latest monthly period. In Africa the inflation rate increased by a similar magnitude.

Notes: The inflation estimates are published approximately 2 months after the reference period (latest release: March 2026) and cover the end-of-period annual change in consumer prices across all economies. The regional averages can hide substantial country divergence. The aggregated annual inflation is calculated using a geometrically weighted average of officially disseminated indexes, with annual PPP-adjusted GDP lagged by one year as weights. Coverage includes 165 economies worldwide, 46 in Africa, 33 in the Americas, 39 in Asia, 41 in Europe and 6 in Oceania. All aggregates are benchmarked to the WEO annual rates for 2025 and prior years, except for regional and G20 estimates since WEO does not produce those. The full inflation time series was revised as of the February 2026 index, reflecting updated WEO benchmarking and newly available data. The revised figures were released in April 2026 on the IMF Data Portal.

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