The consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the change over time in the general price level of goods and services that households acquire for the purposes of consumption in the month of May 2018 has increased to 9.8% as compared to that of the month of April 2018 at 9.6%.
Briefing the press in Accra, Mr Baah Wadieh, the Acting Government Statistician of the Ghana Statistical Service, said the year-on-year inflation rate, as measured by CPI, was 9.8% over the one year period, from May 2017 to May 2018.
He explained that the May 2018 rate of 9.8% was the second lowest since January 2013 and the first lowest rate was in April 2018 at 9.6%.
According to him, the rate of inflation for May 2018 is the percentage change in CPI over the 12-month period, from May 2017 to May 2018.
“This means that the general price level went up by 1.0% between April 2018 and May 2018; the monthly change rate recorded for April 2018 was 0.9%,” he explained
For the food and non-alcoholic beverages group, the Statistician pointed out that the year -on -year inflation rate recorded 7.6%, as compared with 7.4% recorded in April 2018.
“The price drivers for the food inflation rate were coffee, tea and cocoa (10.8%); fruits (9.9%), mineral water, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices (9.3%); food products not else classified (9.3%); meat and meat products (9.1%); vegetables (8.1%); and oils and fats (8.0%),” he said.
For the non-food group, Mr Wadieh said it recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 10.9% in almost one-and-a-half times that of the food at 7.6%.
He said “the main price drivers for the non-food inflation rate were clothing and footwear (17.2%); recreation and culture (14.2%); furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (14.0%); and miscellaneous goods and services (12.8%).
Mr Wadieh pointed out that five regions — Upper West, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Western and Ashanti — recorded inflation rates higher than the national average of 9.8%.
According to him, Upper West Region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 12.0%, followed by Brong Ahafo Region 11.0%, while the Upper East Region recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation of 8.4% in May 2018.
The Statistician also said the inflation rate for imported items was 12.4% in May 2018 compared with 12.0% recorded in April 2018.
He explained that the inflation rate for locally produced items was 8.7% in May 2018 as compared with 8.5% recorded in April 2018.
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