According to the April 2024 World Bank Africa Pulse report, Ghana's inflation rate of 25.8% places it as the 6th highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. The top five countries with higher inflation rates in the region are Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, ranking 1st through 5th respectively.
The report highlights that food inflation, at 29.6%, surpasses headline inflation, indicating the significant impact of food prices on the overall inflation rate.
Inflation is a critical economic indicator that affects various sectors of the economy. The African continent has seen a spike in inflation in recent years, which has pushed interest rates up and worsened the cost of doing business and living.
While inflation is cooling in most Sub-Saharan African countries, it remains high, with about 90.0% of the countries projected to have lower inflation in 2024 compared to the previous year. However, only seven countries are expected to see inflation rates lower than the pre-pandemic period.
The report also notes that a group of countries still exhibit persistently high rates of inflation, although this group is gradually becoming smaller. Thirteen countries are projected to have a two-digit or higher average annual rate of inflation in 2024, down from 19 countries in 2022. The median inflation rate for these countries has dropped modestly from 27% in 2023 to 22.5% in 2024.
In March 2024, Ghana's inflation increased sharply to 25.8% from 23.2% recorded in February 2024. Non-food inflation rose by 22.6%, while food inflation increased to 29.6%. Locally produced and imported items saw increases of 26.6% and 23.8% respectively. Main drivers for the overall inflation increase were food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as transport costs.