But the report can't be dismissed just because most of the increase came in food and energy prices, said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors. "These are not products which you can do without very easily," he said. Last year, Americans spent about 8 per cent of their money on energy, which includes natural gas, electricity, gasoline and motor oil. They spent about 13 per cent on food. Rising commodity prices have a bigger impact in developing countries, where people spend as much as 30 per cent of their income on food. Inflation in China and Brazil will likely accelerate this year, forcing their central banks to raise interest rates and potentially slowing the global economy in 2012. (AP)