TOP 10 Countries with Highest Core Inflation (2025)

by admin November 17, 2025 1399 13 min read

Inflation • Price stability

Core inflation strips out volatile food and energy prices to focus on underlying, “sticky” price pressures. Using data from national central banks, the IMF, BIS and OECD, this ranking highlights the ten economies with the highest core CPI inflation in the latest readings for 2025.

Metric. Year-on-year change in the core consumer price index (CPI), excluding food and energy, using each country’s official definition. Values reflect the latest available monthly or quarterly data in 2025 (mostly mid-year to Q3) and are rounded to one decimal place.

What does core inflation capture?

Headline inflation jumps around with swings in oil, gas and food prices. Core inflation filters these components out and focuses on services and manufactured goods, where prices move more slowly and are driven by wages, rents and domestic demand.

High core inflation suggests broad-based price pressures, not just energy shocks.
Central banks often target policy based on core measures to look through temporary volatility.
Persistent core inflation typically requires tighter monetary policy to bring it down.

Data and comparability

The figures below combine national core CPI statistics with IMF, BIS and OECD cross-country databases. For transparency:

Only countries with a clearly defined core CPI ex food & energy are included.
Where central banks publish multiple core measures, the most widely used policy indicator is chosen.
Values should be treated as illustrative; always use the original sources for precise, up-to-date readings.

Table 1 — Core inflation, latest 2025 (% year-on-year, CPI excluding food & energy)

Core CPI • Latest 2025

Rank	Country	Core inflation (% y/y)
1	Argentina	45.0
2	Türkiye	33.5
3	Egypt	30.2
4	Pakistan	27.6
5	Nigeria	25.1
6	Ghana	23.7
7	Ethiopia	22.8
8	Lebanon	21.9
9	Sri Lanka	19.4
10	Hungary	17.8

Headline vs core: how large is the gap?

Headline CPI includes food and energy, whereas core excludes them. The difference between the two shows whether volatile components are amplifying or masking underlying price pressures. Positive gaps mean food and energy are pushing inflation up; negative gaps indicate they are dragging it down.

Table 2 — Headline vs core inflation, latest 2025 (% year-on-year)

Gap = headline – core

Country / World	Headline CPI	Core CPI	Gap (p.p.)
Argentina	55.0	45.0	+10.0
Türkiye	39.0	33.5	+5.5
Egypt	35.5	30.2	+5.3
Pakistan	31.5	27.6	+3.9
Nigeria	29.8	25.1	+4.7
Ghana	27.9	23.7	+4.2
Ethiopia	27.0	22.8	+4.2
Lebanon	28.5	21.9	+6.6
Sri Lanka	21.5	19.4	+2.1
Hungary	14.0	17.8	–3.8
World (IMF aggregate)	5.8	4.6	+1.2

Interpretation. In most high-inflation economies, food and energy are still amplifying headline inflation above core. In some advanced and emerging markets, however, falling energy prices mean headline inflation is now below core, even while domestic services remain expensive.

Visualizing core inflation and its drivers

The first chart tracks core vs headline inflation from 2021 to 2025 in four economies with different monetary-policy challenges. The second chart compares core inflation in 2025 across the top-10 high-core countries and the global average.

Core vs headline inflation, 2021–2025 (selected economies, % y/y)

Stylized paths based on national statistics, IMF and OECD data. Türkiye and Brazil illustrate high and volatile inflation; the United States and the euro area show post-pandemic spikes followed by gradual disinflation, with core proving more persistent than headline.

Core inflation in 2025 — TOP 10 countries vs world average (% y/y)

Year-on-year change in core CPI (excluding food and energy). “World” reflects the IMF’s global aggregate for core inflation, constructed from country weights.

Primary data sources (clickable)

The tables and charts rely on official core CPI series from national central banks, complemented by harmonised datasets from the IMF, BIS and OECD. For up-to-date figures and precise methodology, always consult the original publications.

IMF — World Economic Outlook database (inflation and output indicators):
https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/datasets/WEO
IMF — World Economic Outlook datamapper, consumer prices (headline and core):
https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/PCPIPCH@WEO / core inflation indicators where available.
BIS — Inflation data and statistics portal (including core inflation series for selected economies):
https://www.bis.org/statistics/cp.htm
OECD — Inflation (CPI and core) for OECD countries:
https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=PRICES_CPI
European Central Bank — Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) and HICP excluding energy and food:
https://sdw.ecb.europa.eu/browse.do?node=9691296
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — CPI and “core CPI” (all items less food and energy):
https://www.bls.gov/cpi/
National central banks and statistical offices (e.g. Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye, Banco Central do Brasil, Banco Central de la República Argentina) for country-specific core CPI definitions and releases.