By Marcus Lu
A major economic consequence that arose in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic was high inflation. In many countries, inflation rates reached double-digits, which is significantly higher than the 2-3% typically targeted by central banks.
Generally speaking, an extended period of fast rising prices is not optimal because it erodes the purchasing power of money. This makes everyday essentials like groceries, rent, and gas more expensive.
To see how inflation is currently faring, we’ve visualized annual inflation rates across G20 countries as of February 2024, in the context of their pandemic peak. This data was sourced from Trading Economics and can also be found in the table below.
| Country | Inflation (%, Feb 2024) | Inflation (%, COVID peak) | Date of Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
  Argentina |
276.0 | — | — |
  Turkey |
67.1 | 85.5 | Oct 2022 |
  Russia |
7.7 | 17.8 | Apr 2022 |
  South Africa |
5.6 | 7.8 | Jul 2022 |
  India |
5.1 | 7.8 | Apr 2022 |
  Brazil |
4.5 | 12.1 | Apr 2022 |
  Mexico |
4.4 | 8.7 | Sept 2022 |
  Australia |
4.1 | 7.8 | Dec 2022 |
  United Kingdom |
3.4 | 11.1 | Oct 2022 |
  United States |
3.2 | 9.1 | Jun 2022 |
  South Korea |
3.1 | 6.3 | Jul 2022 |
  France |
3.0 | 6.3 | Feb 2023 |
  Canada |
2.8 | 8.1 | Jun 2022 |
  Japan |
2.8 | 4.3 | Jan 2023 |
  Spain |
2.8 | 10.8 | Jul 2022 |
  Indonesia |
2.8 | 6 | Sept 2022 |
  Germany |
2.5 | 8.8 | Nov 2022 |
  Saudi Arabia |
1.8 | 6.2 | Jun 2021 |
  Italy |
0.8 | 11.8 | Oct 2022 |
  China |
0.7 | 2.8 | Sept 2022 |
Notes: Spain is a permanent guest of the G20. Australia’s latest inflation rate is as of Dec 2023.
Unlike other G20 nations, Argentina’s inflation rate has only gone up since the pandemic ended. This is largely due to the country’s history of printing money to compensate for government overspending.
