Consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 1.5% in the year to May 2013 compared with 1.3% in the year to April 2013.

Austria has achieved high levels of economic growth and well-being, but must address serious demographic, environmental and globalisation challenges if future generations are to share the same prosperity, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Austria.

Since its launch in 2005, the Aid for Trade Initiative has helped improve the links between trade, economic growth and development. The Initiative has prompted donors to put trade issues at the centre of their development strategies, contributed to increased levels of both concessional and non-concessional financing and led the private sector to re-examine how it can make trade work for development and poverty reduction.

There are few OECD countries where vocational education and training (VET) is held in such high regard or takes so many forms as in Austria. Some 60 percent of young Austrians aged between 25 and 34 have completed a VET course below tertiary level (vocational school or technical college).

Real GDP in the OECD area rose by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2013, compared with flat growth registered in the previous quarter. Private consumption was the main contributor to overall GDP growth with 0.3 percentage point, while net exports and stockbuilding contributed 0.1 percentage point each.

Governments around the world are encouraging people to factor the environment into their everyday lives and purchases. Is it leading to more sustainable consumption? Are households ‘going green’?

The transition from school to work in Germany is remarkably smooth. An excellent vocational education and training (VET) system ensures that young people are well-prepared when they enter the labour market and can find jobs that match their qualifications.

France’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) was USD 12.1 billion in 2012, making it the 4th largest member of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee in terms of the volume of aid. However, this represents 0.46% of French Gross National Income (GNI) – below France’s international commitment. The review recommends that France plan to reach the 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio as soon as possible.

Composite leading indicators (CLIs), designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend, point to diverging patterns across major economies. The CLIs point to moderate improvements in growth in most major OECD economies but in large emerging economies the CLIs point towards stabilising or slowing momentum.

Aid for Trade is helping developing countries reduce trade costs, improve competitiveness and plug into the regional and global value chains that are increasingly important to the world economy, but much more can be done, according to a new joint report from OECD and the WTO.