Consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 3.3% in the year to September 2011, compared with 3.2% in the year to August – the highest rate since October 2008, the OECD has revealed today.

Excluding food and energy, the annual inflation rate rose by 1.9% in September, compared with 1.8% in August – the highest rate since April 2009. Energy prices rose by 14.2% in the year to September, up from 13.5% in the year to August. Food prices however rose with 4.2% in the year to September, down from 4.6% in the year to August.

Annual inflation in the eurozone rose with 3.0% in the year to September 2011, up from 2.5% in August, with energy and food prices rising with 12.4% and 2.8% respectively.

In the UK annual inflation rose from 4.5% in August to 5.2% in September 2011, mainly driven by higher energy prices, which rose from 12.3% in August to 18.1% in September. The rate is back to the peak recorded in September 2008, which was the highest rate since official series began in January 1997.

Consumer price inflation also picked up in Italy (to 3.0%, in the year to September, up from 2.8% in the year to August), and Germany (to 2.6%, up from 2.4%), but was stable in France at 2.2%.

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