Substantial price rises in food, transportation, and accommodation have propelled national year-on-year inflation to 19.4 per cent in March 2022.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service’s most recent data, This was a finding. The rate is 3.7 percentage points higher than the February 2022 rate of 15.7 per cent.
Since the Ghana Statistical Service rebased the Consumer Price Index in August 2019, the inflation rate in March 2022 has risen to its highest level.
Professor Samuel Anim, the Government Statistician, spoke at a press conference about the implications that arise in fundamental components of the total consumer price index in March 2022.
According to the statistics, food inflation was 22.4 per cent in March 2022, compared to 17.4 per cent in February 2022. Non-food inflation, on the other hand, increased to 17.0 per cent in March 2022 from 14.5 per cent in February 2022.
Transportation, which includes fuel, had the highest inflation rate of 27.6%, next to housing, which had a rate of 21.4 per cent.
Inflation was 4.0 per cent month over a month between February and March 2022. On the other hand, food inflation outpaced non-food inflation by 0.8 percentage points month over month.
Furthermore, local inflation soared to 20% in March 2022, compared to 17.33% for imported goods or inflation. The Rate Of Inflation tracks price changes for a set of products and services consumed by households.
The assumption is that the food basket is purchased once a month, so the total price of the basket will fluctuate as prices vary. The rate of inflation is defined as the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from one period to the next.
The following are some of the highlights of the Ghana Statistical Service report:
1. Inflation was 19.4 per cent between March 2021 and March 2022.
2. Inflation was 4.0 per cent month over month (February 2022 – March 2022).
3. Food inflation has surpassed non-food inflation (22.4 per cent versus 17.0 per cent respectively).
4. Food inflation is 0.8 percentage points higher than non-food inflation every month (4.5 per cent vs. 3.7 per cent)
5. The greatest inflation rate (27.6%) was observed in transportation (which includes gasoline), followed by food and housing (22.4 per cent and 21.4 per cent respectively)
6. Food and non-alcoholic drinks contributed 2.0 percentage points to overall inflation this month, rising from 49.4 per cent in February 2022 to 51.4 per cent in March 2022.
7. The inflation differential between domestically produced and imported goods is maintained.
8. The Brong Ahafo Region had the highest inflation rate (23.1%), while the Upper East Region had the lowest (12.5 per cent)