Consumer Inflation for January 2020 has declined to 7.8 percent, further falling below the government’s target of 8 percent with a band of ±2 percent.
Inflation rate recorded for the period one 1.0 percentage points lower than the 7.9 percent recorded in December, 2019.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures proportionate changes in the prices of a fixed basket of goods and services that households in Ghana consume.

At the press briefing, the Government Statistician, Professor Kobina Annim, explained that the latest inflation data was predominantly driven by food, transportation, and housing.

The Food and Non-alcoholic beverages Division recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 7.8 percent. This is 0.5 percentage points higher than what was recorded in December 2019, at 7.3 percent.

National Non-food year-on-year inflation for January 2020 was 7.9 percent. Between December 2019 and January 2020, the price level of Food and Non-alcoholic beverages increased by 2.3 percent.

This rise is predominantly driven by an increase in price levels of Vegetables and Fish, two subclasses that decreased between November and December 2019.

Non-food subclasses with the highest year-on-year inflation include: Other transport services at 34.5 percent, Postal and courier services at 24.7 percent, and Garden products at 23.4 percent.

Imported and Local Inflation

Inflation of imported goods was 5.8 percent, while the inflation of local goods was 8.7 percent on average.

Regional Inflation

At the regional level, the year-on-year inflation ranged from 5.6 percent in Ashanti Region to 10 percent in Central Region.

Credit: goldstreetbusiness

(By Joshua W. Amlanu)