It was the sharpest increase since October 1988.
About 20 per cent of 100 countries recorded double-digit inflation, with the highest rate in Turkey at 61.1 per cent.
Canada was up by about seven per cent.
Energy price inflation in the OECD soared to 33.7 per cent since March last year and was up from 26.6 increase in February, its highest rate since May 1980.
Excluding food and energy, year-on-year inflation increased to 5.9 per cent in March, after 5.6 per cent in February.
