Economists predict only a slight decline in global inflation rates for the current year and in the medium term. According to the Ifo Institute and the Swiss Institute of Economic Policy, the average global inflation rate is expected to be 3.9% in 2025. Projections for 2026 and 2027 indicate a minor decrease to 3.5%. Ifo expert Niklas Potrafke noted that inflation expectations remain above the targets set by many central banks, suggesting that significant interest rate cuts are unlikely.
The European Central Bank aims for an inflation rate of 2.0% and seeks price stability at that level. Regional inflation projections vary significantly; Western Europe is expected to see an inflation rate of 2.1% this year (2.0% in 2026), while Eastern Europe is forecasted to experience 7.5% this year and 6.4% next year.
North Africa, Eastern Africa, and South America are facing even higher expected inflation rates, exceeding 20%, with some areas projected to surpass 30%. In North America, expectations have also risen, with economists predicting 2.6% this year and 2.8% next year. These insights are based on a quarterly survey conducted from December 4 to December 18, 2024, involving 1,398 experts from 125 countries.
In a separate event, three climate activists from the group Just Stop Oil were acquitted of criminal damage after targeting the office of Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson in Maryport, Cumbria. The activists, Catherine Nash, Fiona Atkinson, and Margaret Reid, had placed posters and banners on the office last April but claimed they did not intend to damage property. The MP testified that he would have incurred a £3,000 clean-up cost had he not lost his parliamentary seat in last summer's general election. Judge Tanweer Ikram ruled that the prosecution did not demonstrate that the activists could have foreseen causing any damage.