The Producer Price inflation rate witnessed a notable decline, decreasing to 28.3% from the previous month’s figure of 32.9%, marking a substantial 4.6% point reduction in August 2023.
Breaking it down by sectors, the Industry sector experienced a marginal decline of 0.6%, resulting in an inflation rate of 30.6% for August. Conversely, the construction sector witnessed an increase of 6.8%, reaching an inflation rate of 24.6% during the same month. In contrast, the Services sector’s inflation rate remained steady at 15%.
The Government Statistician, in a formal statement, attributed this decline to specific sectors within the economy. Notably, the Electricity and gas sector recorded a significant inflation rate of 68.3%, while the Transportation and storage sector reached 37.3%. The Mining and Quarrying sub-sector, on the other hand, saw a modest decrease of 0.3 percentage points, settling at an inflation rate of 32.8% in August 2023. Accommodation and food services registered an inflation rate of 27.0%, while the Manufacturing sub-sector experienced a decrease of 1.0 percentage points, resulting in an inflation rate of 23.5% for August 2023. In addition, the Water Supply, Sewerage, and Waste Management Sub-sector reported an inflation rate of 38.1%, and the Information and Communication sector recorded an inflation rate of 11.0%.