Ghana inflation rate falls to 12.6% in May

The annual inflation rate fell to 12.6 per cent in May from the 13.0 percent recorded in April, due to general decline in prices for both the food and non-food groups.

The rate of inflation is the lowest since December 2013.

The monthly change rate for May was 0.7 percent compared to the 1.6 per cent recorded for April.

Mr Baah Wadieh, Acting Government Statistician, said both the food and non-alcoholic beverages group and the Non-Food group recorded lower rates during the month.

The food and non-alcoholic beverages group recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 6.3 per cent, down 0.4 percentage points compared with 6.7 per cent in April.

The price drivers for the food inflation rate were fish and sea food and meat and meat products.

The year-on-year non-food inflation rate for May was 15.8 per cent compared with the 16.3 per cent for April 2017.

The main price drivers for the non-food inflation rate, include transport, recreation and culture, furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance. 

The inflation rate for imported items, which stood at 14.5 per cent, was 2.7 percentage points higher than that of locally produced items with inflation rate of 11.8 per cent.

Five Regions, Greater Accra, Upper West, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Western recorded inflation rates higher than the national average of 12.6 per cent.

The Greater Accra Region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 13.6 per cent, followed by the Upper West Region with 13.5 per cent while the Upper East Region recorded the lowest of 9.1 per cent.

Source” GNA