The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, presented the latest Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) data in Accra today, highlighting a substantial slowdown in the inflation rate by 3.2 percentage points.
In December 2023, inflation dropped to 23.2%, down from 26.4% in November 2023, marking the fifth consecutive month of decline.
Key findings from Professor Annim's presentation include a month-on-month inflation of 1.2%, indicating a 0.3 percentage point decrease between November and December 2023.
Notably, the year-on-year difference between Food inflation (28.7%) and Non-food (18.7%) stands at 10.0 percentage points.
The report reveals a 3.5 percentage points reduction in Year-on-Year Food Inflation between November and December 2023, with Non-food inflation decreasing by 3.0 percentage points during the same period.
Interestingly, Month-on-Month food inflation (1.3%) was slightly higher than non-food inflation (1.0%) in December 2023.
Inflation for locally produced items (23.8%) exceeded that of imported items (21.9%) by 1.9 percentage points.
The sharp drop in food inflation observed in November 2023 slowed down to a 3.5 percentage point decrease in December 2023. Non-food inflation also continued its slowdown for the fifth consecutive month, reaching 18.7%.
Analysis of divisions reveals that six recorded inflation rates higher than the national average (23.2%), led by Alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics (38.2%). In contrast, Transport (4.4%) recorded the lowest rate of inflation.
Regarding month-on-month rates, Alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics (2.8%) recorded the highest, while Transport inflation (-0.1%) saw the lowest.
Seven divisions recorded rates higher than the national monthly inflation of 1.2%, with Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages remaining the major driver, holding a share of more than half (52.6%).
Focusing on food inflation on a year-on-year basis (28.7%), the Eastern Region recorded the highest rate at 35.9%, while the Greater Accra Region (16.0%) had the lowest.
The Eastern Region also saw the highest food inflation (51.3%), more than 2.5 times the rate for the Upper East Region (18.8%), the lowest.