In August 2023, the year-on-year inflation rate saw a decrease to 40.1 percent, down from the 43.1 percent recorded in July 2033, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
Food inflation also experienced a decline, dropping to 51.9 percent from the previous month’s figure of 55.0 percent.
Remarkably, for the first time this year, the inflation rate for imported goods was lower than that for locally produced items. Imported products registered an inflation rate of 36.2 percent, while locally produced items recorded 42.4 percent.
The announcement was made by the government statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim during a press briefing.
He clarified that the 40.1 percent figure signifies that in August 2023, the overall price level was 40.1 percent higher than it was in August 2022.
Expanding on the specifics, Prof. Annim noted that the food inflation rate for August, at 51.9 percent, marked a decrease of 0.427 percent compared to the preceding month’s food inflation of 55 percent.
“Non food inflation was 30.9 percent compared to last month’s non-food inflation of 33.8 percent”, he said.
In July 2023, the year-on-year inflation witnessed a slight increase, climbing to 43.1% from the previous month’s 42.2%, as indicated by data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The overall inflationary pressure was primarily driven by a notable increase in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Inflation, which surged to 55.0%.
Conversely, Non-Food Inflation stood at 38.3% in the same period.
In terms of regional disparities, the North East Region posted the highest inflation rate at 64.0%, whereas the Greater Accra Region recorded the lowest inflation at 31.8%.
In recent times, Government statistician, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, has counseled decision-makers to critically examine the issues causing the rise in food inflation.
He emphasized that compared to non-food inflation, food inflation has regularly increased by around 20 percentage points.