OECD area inflation falls to 2-year low

Consumer price inflation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area decelerated notably in January, and hit the lowest level in more than two years, latest data showed Tuesday.

Inflation as per the consumer price index dropped to1.7 percent in January from 1.9 percent in December. The latest figure was the lowest since November 2010.

Driving the easing of the headline inflation, energy prices rose at a notably slower rate of 1.8 percent year-on-year in January than 2.9 percent in December. Meanwhile, the growth in food prices remained unchanged at 2.1 percent.

Core inflation, excluding food and energy prices, stayed unchanged at 1.5 percent during the month, data showed.

Among member countries, annual inflation in Canada eased to 0.5 percent from 0.8 percent in December, while Germany's inflation dropped to 1.7 percent from 2 percent. Inflation in France slowed to 1.2 percent in January from 1.3 percent in the previous month, while Italian inflation dropped to 2.2 percent from 2.3 percent.

Japan continued to record deflation, with the index falling at a faster rate of 0.3 percent than 0.1 percent in December. In the United Kingdom, inflation stayed stable at 2.7 percent for the fourth consecutive month.

Month-on-month, the consumer price index for the OECD area edged up 0.1 percent in January, after holding flat in the previous month, data showed.