Consumer prices rose 8.1% in June, fuelled by soaring gasoline costs
Grocery store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. © Creative Touch Imaging Ltd. / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Canada joined the US and the UK in seeing its year-on-year inflation hit 40-year highs in June.
The Consumer Prices Index reached 8.1% year-over-year in June, following a 7.7% gain in May, Statistics Canada reported on Wednesday, adding that the increase was the largest yearly change since January 1983.
The acceleration in June was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline, which rose a whopping 54.6% on a year-over-year basis, the statistics agency explained.
Hourly wages failed to catch up with inflation, rising by only 5.2% compared to the same period last year, Statistics Canada added.
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Although at a nearly 40-year high, June’s inflation rate in Canada is still lower than the levels seen in the US (9.1%, the largest increase since 1981) and in the UK (9.4%, the highest increase since 1982).
Inflation has been rising across the developed nations amid the worsening energy crunch caused by tight crude oil and natural gas supply which, in turn, has been exacerbated by international sanctions against Russia, a major fossil fuel exporter.
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