Inflation rate for October falls to 9.5 per cent - Report

The year-on-year inflation rate for October 2018 was 9.5 per cent down from 9.8 per cent recorded in September 2018; Mr Baah Wadieh, the Acting Government Statistician, stated on Wednesday in Accra.

Presenting the Consumer Price Index for the month, Mr Wadieh noted that, the monthly change rate in October 2018 was 0.7 per cent, compared with the rate of 0.0 per cent recorded in September 2018.

The October 2018 rate of 9.5 per cent is the lowest since January 2013, according to Mr Wadieh.

The Acting Government Statistician said the year-on-year non-food inflation rate for October 2018 was 9.8 per cent compared with the rate of 10.3 per cent recorded in September 2018.

The year-on-year food inflation rate for October 2018 was 8.9 per cent, compared with 8.7 per cent recorded in September 2018.

Mr Wadieh said the year-on-year non-food inflation rate of 9.8 per cent is 0.9 per cent point higher than the food inflation rate of 8.9 per cent.

In October 2018, the year-on-year inflation rate for imported items was 11.1 per cent, which is 2.3 percentage points higher than that of locally produced items at 8.8 per cent.

He explained that the main “price drivers” for the non-food inflation rate were Clothing and Footwear (13.4 per cent), Transport (13.9 per cent), Recreation and Culture (12.7 per cent), Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance (11.9 per cent).

However, he posited that the “price drivers” for the food inflation rate were Coffee, tea and cocoa (13.1 per cent), Fruits (11.4 per cent), Meat and meat products (10.1 per cent), Mineral water, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices (10.4 per cent), Vegetables (9.6 per cent) and Food products (10.5 per cent).

Five Regions (Upper West, Brong Ahafo, Western, Ashanti and Northern) recorded inflation rates higher than the national average of 9.5 per cent.

Upper West Region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 11.6 per cent, followed by Brong Ahafo Region (10.4 per cent), while the Upper East Region recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation rate of 8.3 per cent in October 2018.