Countries by Consumer price index (2010 = 100)

Ranking 2024

Analysis

The consumer price index (CPI) measures the prices of consumption goods and services relative to a fixed reference period, specifically 2010=100, per the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code FP.CPI.TOTL). A value of 200 means prices have doubled since 2010; a value of 41,280 means prices are roughly 412 times higher. The dataset covers 189 countries, with 183 of those (96.8%) reporting data from within the last seven years. All datapoints are classified as official-quality sources (100%), and 170 of 189 countries (89.9%) have data for the reference year 2024. The ranking identifies 11 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the value range spans from 102.9 to 41,280.7, a spread of over 40,000 percent.

The top of the ranking is dominated by countries that have experienced severe or hyperinflationary conditions since 2010. South Sudan ranks 1st at 41,280.7, followed by Sudan at 38,796.6 and Zimbabwe at 11,076.6. Lebanon ranks 4th at 7,751.1, and Iran and Venezuela rank 5th and 6th at 2,834.8 and 2,740.3 respectively. Turkiye ranks 8th at 1,322.9, and Ethiopia, Angola, and Malawi round out the top 11, all above 1,000. These countries share the characteristic of having CPI values at least ten times the 2010 baseline.

The middle of the ranking, roughly ranks 50 to 150, contains a wide mix of economies. India ranks 43rd at 227.6, Brazil ranks 46th at 223.2, and Mexico ranks 63rd at 184.4. The United States ranks 117th at 143.9, close to neighbors such as Australia (115th, 144.3) and Norway (111th, 145.1). A notable pattern at the lower end is the concentration of Gulf states and Pacific territories: Japan ranks 183rd at 114.4, Switzerland ranks 188th at 105.5, and the Cayman Islands ranks last at 102.9. Several European economies including Greece (179th, 118.8), Cyprus (178th, 119.2), and Ireland (163rd, 127.2) also appear in the bottom quarter, indicating price levels close to their 2010 levels.

Several limitations affect interpretation of this metric. The index anchors all comparisons to 2010, so countries that experienced high inflation before 2010 and stability afterward may appear lower-ranked than their current price environment suggests. Countries at the extreme top of the ranking, particularly South Sudan (1st) and Sudan (2nd), are flagged as statistical outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, which may indicate data quality or estimation challenges in conflict-affected environments. Not all countries report data for the same year; while 89.9% have 2024 data, the remainder rely on earlier observations, which can affect cross-country comparability. The CPI also covers only consumption goods and services and does not capture asset prices, exchange rate effects, or subsistence economies where formal price tracking is limited.

Methodology

Rankings are based on the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code FP.CPI.TOTL, using the most recent available data as of 2024. The metric is defined as an index of the prices of consumption goods and services, as compared to a certain reference period (2010=100). The dataset covers 189 countries, of which 183 (96.8%) have data from within the last seven years and 170 (89.9%) have data specifically for 2024. All 189 datapoints are sourced from official national statistics. The ranking contains 11 extreme outliers as identified by a 3-sigma threshold. The average year-over-year change across the dataset is 8.8%. Values range from 102.9 (Cayman Islands) to 41,280.7 (South Sudan), a spread of approximately 40,001 percent. Higher values indicate greater cumulative price increases since the 2010 base year and are treated as higher-ranked in this index.

Sources

• World Bank