Inflation goes up to 9.8% in May

Latest figures from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has revealed a 0.2% increase in the country’s inflation from 9.6 percent in April to 9.8% in May.

This means that prices for goods and Service for the period saw an increase. The GSS attributed the increase in changing prices in some food items and recreational activities.

The monthly change rate in May 2018 was 1.0% compared with to the 0.9% recorded in April 2018.

The year-on-year non-food inflation rate for May 2018 was 10.9% compared with the rate of 10.6% recorded in April 2018.

The year-on-year food inflation rate for May 2018 was 7.6%, compared with 7.4%recorded in April 2018.

The year-on-year non-food inflation rate (10.9%) is almost one and half times that of the food inflation rate (7.6%).

In May 2018, the year-on-year inflation rate for imported items (12.4%) was 3.7 percentage points higher than that of locally produced items (8.7%).

The main price drivers for the non-food inflation rate were Clothing and footwear (17.2%), Recreation and Culture (14.2%), Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance (14.0%) and miscellaneous goods and services (12.8%).

The “price drivers” for the food inflation rate were coffee, tea and cocoa (10.8%), Fruits (9.9%), Mineral water, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices (9.3%), Food products n.e.c (9.3%) Meat and meat products (9.1%), vegetables (8.1%) and oils and fats (8.0%).

Five regions (Upper West, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Western and Ashanti) recorded inflation rates higher than the national average of 9.8%. Upper West region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 12.0%, followed by Brong Ahafo region (11.0%), while the Upper East region recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation (8.4%) in May2018. The May 2018 rate of 9.8% is the second lowest since January 2013. The first lowest rate was in April 2018(9.6%).