Consumer Prices in the OECD area fell 0.3 per cent in year to August 2009, according to figures released this morning.
This is compared to a drop of 0.6 per cent in the year to July. Month-on-month, prices increased by 0.2 per cent in August, compared with a fall of 0.2 per cent in July 2009, the OECD reported.
Consumer prices for energy were down by 14.4 per cent in the year to August 2009, following a fall of 18.1 per cent in July. Consumer prices for food rose by 0.1 per cent in the year to August, compared with 0.6 per cent in July.
When food and energy are stripped out, consumer prices rose by 1.5 per cent in the year to August 2009, compared with 1.6 per cent in July 2009.
In the euro area, annual inflation (HICP) was -0.2 per cent in August 2009, up from -0.6 per cent in July.
Month-on-month, however, the HICP was up by 0.3 per cent in August, compared with a fall of 0.7 per cent in July.
Excluding food and energy, the year-on-year rise in the HICP amounted to 1.3 per cent in August, unchanged from July.
In the United States, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell by 1.5 per cent over the year to August 2009, compared with a decline of 2.1 per cent in the year to July. In Japan, consumer prices fell by 2.2 per cent in the year to August, unchanged from July 2009.
Over the year to August, annual inflation was 1.6 per cent in the United Kingdom, 0.1 per cent in Italy, 0.0 per cent in Germany, -0.2 per cent in France, and -0.8 per cent in Canada.