Ghana Statistical Service rebases CPI, August 2019 rate at 7.8 per cent

The Ghana Statistical Service has introduced a rebased Consumer Price Index as part of the continuous effort to improve the quality of data.

The new series has 2018 as the reference period and had expanded basket over the previous one which had 2012 as the reference period.

There are 307 items in the new basket compared with the 267 in the old basket while the points of data collection had also increased from 42 markets in the old basket to 44 markets in the new series.

Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, the Government Statistician, said the new series adequately reflected the peoples’ purchasing habit.

“The new series has taken into account changes in consumption pattern over time. One major change in the new series is the adoption of COICOP 2018 for the re-classification of items in the basket. This resulted in some items moving across Divisions and Groups,” he said.

With the new series, the year-on-year inflation rate as measured by the CPI was 7.8 per cent in August 2019.

Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics (12.9%) was the key driver of August’s inflation.

The Food and non-alcoholic beverages group recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 8.2 per cent.

Fruits and nuts 25.2 per cent, Cereals and cereal products 10.6 per cent, sugar, confectionery and deserts 9.0 per cent, and Ready-made food and other food products (8.3 per cent were the major drivers of the food inflation.

The Non-food group recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 7.4 per cent in August 2019. Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics 12.9 per cent, Transport 10.2 per cent and Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels 9.9 per cent were the key drivers of the non-food inflation in August.

At the regional level, the year-on-year inflation rate ranged from 3.9 per cent for Eastern region to 12.4 per cent for Greater Accra region.

Four regions, Greater Accra, Upper West, Central and Volta, recorded inflation rates above the national average of 7.8 per cent. Eastern region recorded the least inflation rate of 3.9 per cent.