How the price of goods and services we regularly spend money on changes over time is used by governments and businesses to take the temperature of a nation's economy. It’s generally accepted that low, predictable growth is best for everyone. The global inflation rate is currently around 3.6%, according to the International Monetary Fund.

And some countries that are hobbled by political and economic instability - Venezuela, Zimbabwe and South Sudan chief among them - are facing cripplingly high inflation rates, according to data compiled from Trading Economics.