Ghana’s national year-on-year inflation continues its upward trend, rising beyond the 30% mark in July 2022 and 1.9 percentage points higher than the rate of 29.8% recorded in June this year.

According to data from the Ghana Statistical Service, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July 2022 was 173.0 relative to 131.3 in July 2021. This resulted in a year-on-year inflation rate of 31.7% for July 2022. The recent inflation rate marks a 13-month consecutive rise since June 2021 and transport remains the major driver of inflation in the country.

On a quarterly basis, the average rate of inflation has increased by 10.7 percentage points. In the second quarter of 2022, it stood at 27.0% relative to the first quarter of 16.3%.

Likewise, month-on-month inflation recorded a marginal increase between June and July, recording a rate of 3.1% compared to 3.0% in June 2022.

In July 2022, six divisions recorded inflation rates higher than the national average. These divisions are Transport (44.6%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (43.0%); Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (42.0%); Recreation, Sport and Culture (33.8%); Personal Care, Social Protection and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (33.7%) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (32.3%).

Food and Non-Food Inflation

Food inflation rose to 32.3% in July 2022, up from 30.7% recorded in June. July’s food inflation was very much above the rolling average over last 12 months of 19.4%. Month-on-month Food inflation was 3.3%.

For the food group, Oils and Fats (67%); Fish and Other Seafood (42.9%); Water (42.4%); Cereal Products (40.0%); Milk, Dairy Products and Eggs (39.7%); Fruit and Vegetable Juices (37.7%); Live Animals and Meat (34.5%) and Sugar and Desserts (32.7%) recorded inflation rates higher than the food inflation rate of 32.3%.

Similarly, Non-food Inflation rose to 31.3% in July this year, up from 29.1 % in June and very much above the rolling average over last 12 months of 17.2%. Month-on-month Non-Food inflation was 3.0% between June and July this year.

The data further revealed that inflation for locally produced items was 30.9% in July, whereas inflation for imported items was 33.9%.

In June this year, inflation for locally produced items was 29.2% while that of imported items was 31.3%. The percentage points difference between inflation for imported items and domestic items was 2.1% in June 2022 compared to 3.0%.

Regional inflation

Eastern region recorded the highest inflation rate of 38.1%, followed by Western and Greater Accra with inflation rates of 37.6% and 35.5% respectively.

The Upper East region registered the lowest inflation rate of 19.8%. The region with the lowest inflation rate was Upper East (15.7%), whilst Upper West recorded the least inflation rate of 21.2% for the non-food group.

Transport recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 53.2% in the Eastern region while the Housing, Water, Electricity, and Gas sub-division recorded a rate of 49.6%.

CPI measures changes in the price of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by households. Every month, prices are collected for approximately 39,500 products. Price collection is done in 44 markets and prices are collected from 7,726 outlets.