October inflation up to 7.7%

Inflation rate was 7.7% in October 2019, up by 0.1 percentage point from the 7.6% recorded in September 2019, the government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, has said.

At a press conference in Accra on Wednesday November 13, he said the  Month-on-month inflation between September 2019 and October 2019 was 0.4% Alcoholic beverages, tobacco & narcotics (13.2%) and Transport (12.9%) were the Divisions with the highest rates of inflation.

He said due to its relative importance in consumption, Food is still the main driver of inflation in Ghana, but less so than in the two previous months Compared to previous months, Transport is now a larger driver of inflation. This is mostly due to increased prices in both bus fares and fuels.

The Food and Non-alcoholic beverages Division recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 7.0%. This is 1.5 percentage points lower than what was recorded in September 2019 (8.5%). Between September 2019 and October 2019 the price level of Food and Non-alcoholic beverages went down slightly (-1.2%).

This decline is predominantly driven by a decline in price levels of vegetables and fruits (see Figure 3). National Non-food year-on-year for October 2019 inflation was 8.2%, up from 7.0% recorded in September 2019.

Non-food classes with the highest year-on-year inflation include: Transport services of goods (37.5%), Narcotics (33.8%), Passenger transport (14.1%), Alcoholic beverages

(12.4%), Maintenance of dwellings (11.7%), Electricity, gas and fuels (11.7%), and Information and communication services (8.4%). Inflation of imported goods was 8.9%, while the inflation of local goods was 5.9% on average.