Consumer Price Index Increases

The National Consumer Price Index (CPI) for goods and services in the country for the month of December 2005, increased to 414.23 from 412.80 in November.

However, year-on-year inflation fell from 15.3% in November 2005 to 14.8% in December 2005.

Inflation for the end of the year did not reach the targeted 13.5%, registering a decrease of 0.5%, the latest consumer price index released by the Ghana Statistical Service has revealed.

Food inflation over 12 months was higher than the combined inflation by 0.2%, and for December last year, it was 15%, while that of non-food inflation was 14.6%, which is 0.2% below the combined inflation.

Inflation rate, which is the general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money, has been hovering around 15% for some time now.

The national CPI increased by 1.43 points over that of the previous month. The largest upward effect on the level of the national index for a commodity group came from education and recreation (+0.86 points), while the largest downward effect was from the household goods (-1.10 points).

Within the commodity group, the highest upward contribution to the change in CPI came from meat (+1.86 points), whilst prepared meals had the biggest effect in the downward direction (-136 points).

The CPI for rural areas was 457.02, whilst that of urban areas was 397.87, with Accra recording 482.10.