Household income has picked up across the countries that make up the Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).
The latest data from the OECD shows income grew by 0.5% in the last three months of 2018, which outpaced GDP economic growth of 0.2%.
The statistics revealed some countries were better off than others.
Household income in France jumped by 1%, compared to 0.3% in Q3.
The United States returned similar figures – 0.9% growth against 0.4% in the previous quarter.
Boost for UK and Germany
The UK and Germany both saw 0.7% hikes from previous quarter returns of 0.1% for Britain and -0.1% for Germany.
Italy saw household income drop by 0.4% and growth was flat in Canada.
The Euro area saw a nudge up from growth of 0.2% in Q3 to 0.3% in Q4.
Household income is a measure of wealth that is more reliable than GDP growth, says the OECD.
The data considers income per head after deducting taxes and social benefits.
Inflation around the world
The OECD has also issued the latest inflation data for member countries.
Energy prices triggered an average annual inflation rate of 2.3% for the year ending March 31.
The rise was 0.2% up from an annual rate of 2.1% in February.
The cost of energy showed an annual 2.7% rise following a -0.1% drop in February, while food was up by 2.4% compared with 2.3% the month before.
Excluding energy and food, inflation in the OECD area was 2.1%.
Argentina had the highest OECD inflation at 54.7%, followed by 46% in Brazil.
The lowest rate of the cost of living was in Saudi Arabia (-2.1%) and Japan (0.5%).
Inflation was lower in the G& major developed economies than the rest of the OECD.
Japan was the lowest, followed by Italy (1%); France (1.1%), Germany (1.3%), the UK on 1.8% and Canada and the USA both recording 1.9%.
The OECD is forum where governments of the world’s leading economies can promote economic policy.
The OECD has a membership of 36 nations, including all the EU states and other economies, such as the USA, Canada and emerging markets, like Turkey, India, Russia and Brazil.
Download the full OECD inflation report for March 2019 [Word format]
