Inflation rate hits 17.2% in September
Inflation rate for the month of September hit 17.2 per cent compared to the 16.9 per cent recorded in August 2016. This represents a 0.3 per cent increase from the previous one in August.
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However, the monthly change rate between August and September was 0.2 per cent, a reduction from the -0.6 per cent recorded in August 2016.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the change over time in the general price level of goods and services that households acquire for the purpose of consumption, with reference to the price level in 2012, the base year, which has an index of 100.
Factors
The Government Statistician, Dr Philomena Nyarkoh, at a news conference in Accra, said aside from the high exchange rate and price changes, the combined effect of the declining food and non-food components of inflation helped to achieve the high rate.
The year-on-year food inflation rate for September 2016 was 9.0 per cent, compared to the 8.5 per cent recorded in August 2016, while the non-food inflation rate (21.6 per cent) was about two and half times that of the food inflation rate.
“In September 2016, the year-on-year inflation rate for imported items (18.7 per cent) was 2.1 percentage points higher than that of locally produced items (16.6 per cent),” she said.
Dr Nyarkoh added that the main price drivers for the non-food inflation rate were education (32.5 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (28.0 per cent), recreation and culture (27.6 per cent), transport (27.3 per cent), clothing and footwear (23.2 per cent) and furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance (23.0 per cent).
The price drivers for the food inflation rate were oil and fats (10.3 per cent), mineral water, soft drinks, fruits and vegetable juices (16.2 per cent), coffee, tea and cocoa (16.0 per cent) and meat and meat products (13.1 per cent).
Regional differences
At the regional level, Dr Nyarko stated that the year-on-year inflation rate ranged from 13.8 per cent in the Central Region to 20.8 per cent in the Greater Accra Region.
Two regions — Greater Accra and Ashanti — however recorded inflation rates above the national average of 17.2 per cent.
The Greater Accra Region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 20.8 per cent, followed by Ashanti Region with 18.1 per cent, while the Central Region recorded the lowest rate of 13.8 per cent.