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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on August 29, 2023 in a speech at the White House: U.S. inflation is \"now down close to 3%, the lowest among the world’s leading economies.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" mostly-true/4ac7c61540eff5211f6a04d98a6bc93a.jpg.\\") ![\\"mostly- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Economy * Joe Biden ![\\"Shoppers](\\" Shoppers buy food in a supermarket in London on Aug. 17, 2022. (AP) ![\\"Louis](\\" By Louis Jacobson September 1, 2023 # Joe Biden is mostly right that the US inflation rate is the lowest among other leading economies #### If Your Time is short * Starting in July, the U.S. passed Canada for the lowest inflation rate among the G-7 countries, which represent some of the world’s biggest economies. And for the previous five months, the U.S. ranked a close second to Canada for lowest in the G-7. * Expanding out to a larger grouping of 30-plus large economies, the U.S. has one of the lowest inflation rates. However, a few countries — Denmark, Greece, Portugal, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland — have lower inflation than the U.S. does. See the sources for this fact-check High inflation rates have bedeviled Joe Biden during much of his presidency. But in recent remarks, Biden expressed optimism that the U.S. has turned a corner in its effort to fight fast-rising prices. \"While we have more to do, inflation is down by two-thirds,\" Biden said during an Aug. 29 speech about lowering health care costs. \"Inflation is now down close to 3%, the lowest among the world’s leading economies.\" We’ve previously reported that parts of that statement are correct: Inflation is down by about two-thirds from its peak in summer 2022, and it currently measures just over 3% compared with prices one year earlier. But does the U.S. have the lowest inflation rate among the world’s leading economies? When we last addressed how the U.S. ranks internationally in inflation — in June 2022, at the height of U.S. inflation — we found that although inflation rose above pre-COVID-19 levels in every major economy around the world, inflation in the United States spiked higher than its most direct competitors. Now, though, the United States is beating its competitors in lowering inflation. The U.S. has a lower inflation rate than any other member of the G-7 group of large economies. And among a broader group of advanced industrialized nations, only a few countries beat the United States’ inflation rate. First, let’s look at the members of the G-7 — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. (Current data is not available for Japan, so we’ll set it aside.) For the first half of 2022, the U.S. had the highest inflation rate of any G-7 country. But in the most recent data, covering July 2023, that has reversed: The U.S. now has the lowest inflation of any G-7 country. From February 2023 to June 2023, the U.S. was a close second to Canada for the G-7’s lowest inflation rate. Then, in July 2023, the United States edged slightly lower than Canada, sealing its lowest-in-the-G-7 status. In July 2023, the United States’ 3.2% rate was better than Canada’s 3.3%, France’s 4.3%, Italy’s 5.9%, and Germany’s 6.2%, and it was half of the United Kingdom’s 6.4% rate. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 13, 2024 in an Instagram post Kamala Harris voted in favor of passing a law in 2022 to tax tips. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • August 15, 2024 The White House pointed PolitiFact to slightly different data compiled by its own Council of Economic Advisers that sought to iron out methodological differences in how different countries calculate inflation. But the conclusion aligned with our findings: After tracking higher than the other G-7 nations in early 2022, inflation in the U.S. now rests at the bottom of the G-7. If you expand the field of economic rivals, the U.S. inflation rate continues to fare better. The U.S. inflation rate is below the average for the G-20, a group of 20 nations with large economies. For June 2023, the most recent data available, the average inflation rate for G-20 nations was 5.5%. The same holds if you look at members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes most European nations and selected large economies from the Americas, Asia and elsewhere. Beyond the G-7 nations, the U.S. also boasts a lower inflation rate than such countries as Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Only a few OECD countries reported inflation rates lower than the United States’, including Denmark, Greece, Portugal, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland. Our ruling Biden said that current U.S. inflation is \"the lowest among the world’s leading economies.\" Starting in July 2023, the U.S. passed Canada for the lowest inflation among the G-7 countries. Looking at the most recent data for a larger grouping of 30-plus large economies, the U.S. has one of the lowest inflation rates, but a few countries — Denmark, Greece, Portugal, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland — have lower inflation than the U.S. does. We rate the statement Mostly True. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Joe Biden, remarks on lowering health care costs, Aug. 29, 2023 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, consumer price index database, accessed Aug. 31, 2023 White House Council of Economic Advisers, \"Apples to Äpfel: Recent Inflation Trends in the G7,\" June 27, 2023 PolitiFact, \"Fact-checking Joe Biden on inflation rates among US’ economic peers,\" June 22, 2022 PolitiFact, \"Under Joe Biden, is inflation coming down or are prices much higher? Both,\" July 31, 2023 Statement from the White House to PolitiFact, Aug. 30, 2023 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Louis Jacobson ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on June 15, 2024 in remarks in Detroit: The Trump administration “achieved the lowest African American unemployment rate and the lowest African American poverty rate ever recorded.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • June 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on June 15, 2024 in remarks in Detroit: Crime statistics “no longer include data from 30% of the country including the biggest and most violent cities.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • June 18, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Eric Swalwell stated on June 9, 2024 in a post on X: Says Sen. Lindsey Graham said a newly elected Donald Trump “will round up and deport LEGAL immigrants.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • June 10, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 8, 2024 in a press conference: Says his Jan. 6, 2021, speech on the White House Ellipse drew the “same number of people,” as the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in un mitin de campaña en Filadelfia: \"El crimen violento aumentó bajo Donald Trump\". ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in a rally in Philadelphia: “Violent crime was up under Donald Trump.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 30, 2024 in a rally in Atlanta: Donald Trump “intends to cut” Medicare. ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on August 2, 2024 in a written statement: \"Since Vice President Harris and I took office … incomes have risen faster than prices.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 6, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 30, 2024 in an event in Atlanta: \"Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 31, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Pete Buttigieg stated on July 28, 2024 in an interview on Fox News Sunday: “Even before the pandemic, America went into a manufacturing recession.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 31, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 18, 2024 in a speech in North Carolina: “Today, America has record energy production and we are energy independent.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 26, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 18, 2024 in a campaign event in North Carolina: Project 2025 would “end Head Start.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • July 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on July 13, 2024 in a statement to the media: “The idea that there’s political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • July 15, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Byron Donalds stated on July 7, 2024 in an interview on Fox News Sunday: Kamala Harris \"co-sponsored, fully sponsored\" the Green New Deal. ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • July 10, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on April 4, 2024 in a post on TikTok: Donald Trump’s plan is “cutting Social Security for you.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • June 21, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on June 15, 2024 in remarks in Detroit: The Trump administration “achieved the lowest African American unemployment rate and the lowest African American poverty rate ever recorded.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • June 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on June 15, 2024 in remarks in Detroit: Crime statistics “no longer include data from 30% of the country including the biggest and most violent cities.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • June 18, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Eric Swalwell stated on June 9, 2024 in a post on X: Says Sen. 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US inflation is now down close to 3 the lowest among the world’s leading economies