The Producer Price Inflation (PPI) which measures the ex-factory prices of goods and services in the country, ended 2021 at 12.8 percent, according to figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).

The Producer Price Index is an indication of the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services.

The current rate is an indication that between December 2020 and December 2021, the PPI increased by 12.8 percent. This rate represents a 0.8 percentage points decrease in producer inflation relative to the rate of 13.6 percent recorded in November 2021. This marked the first decline after the PPI went up in four consecutive months last year. Overall, the PPI index rose to 817.7 in December 2021, up from 724.9 in December 2020.

The month-on-month change in PPI between November 2021 and December 2021 was -0.2 percent. This is a marked reduction from the producer price index of 2.8 percent between October 2021 and November 2021. This is also 2.2 percentage points lower than the month-on-month PPI rate of 2.0 percent between September and October last year.

PPI For the various sub-sectors

Notably, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) provided information on inflation rates for all industry and its three major sub-sectors for the last twelve months. The major sub-sectors include Mining and Quarrying, Manufacturing and Utilities.

The producer price inflation in the Mining and Quarrying sub-sector was 0.1 percent in December 2021. This represents a 1.7 percentage points decline over the November 2021 rate of 1.8 percent. The utility sub-sector recorded a 0.2 percent inflation rate for December 2021.

Manufacturing sub-sector

The producer inflation for the Manufacturing sub-sector, which constitutes more than two-thirds of the total industry, decreased by 0.8 percentage points to record 19.2 percent.

In December 2021, two out of the sixteen major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 19.2 percent. Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products, and nuclear fuel recorded the highest inflation rate of 56.4 percent in December 2021, compared to 58.4 percent in November 2021. The Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers recorded the least inflation rate of -3.5 percent.

Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral product recorded an annual rate of 14.6 percent in December last year, as compare to 14.5 percent in November 2021.

Manufacture of food products and beverages also recorded an inflation rate of 10.2 percent in December 2021, as compared to 12.2 percent in November 2021.

The inflation rate for Electricity and Water Supply was 0.2 percent in December 2021, same as that of the rate in November 2021.

The GSS noted that its release provides the annual (year-on-year) and monthly producer inflation rates for all industry and three major sub-sectors of industry (Mining and Quarrying, Manufacturing and Utilities) for the last twelve months. However, GSS cautioned that the figures for the month of December 2021 are provisional, and are subject to revision when additional data become available but all other indicators are final.