The economic recovery, together with the production bottlenecks of the Chinese manufacturing firms that were forced to stop their production due to the severe restrictions introduced to fight the pandemic, contributed to the sharp increase in average price levels witnessed from the second half of 2021, due to the shortfall in product supply not being able to meet demand. Additionally, the economic uncertainty generated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated the precariousness of the recovery, triggering global ripple effects through commodity markets, trade, financial flows, and displaced people. In the second quarter of 2022, the average inflation rate among OECD countries was 3.35 percent relative to the previous quarter and 9.71 percent relative to the previous year. According to the OECD economic outlook, annual inflation is expected to decrease in the next quarters, and to stabilize at around 4 percent in the Euro Area throughout 2023.