The year-on year inflation rate for October this year was 11.6 percent compared to 12.2 percent recorded in September 2017.
The monthly change rate in October 2017 was 0.9 percent while that for September 2017 was 0.0 percent.
Baah Wadieh, acting Government Statistician, who disclosed this to the media on Wednesday in Accra, said the year-on-year non-food inflation rate for October 2017 was 13.2 percent compared to 14.1 percent recorded in September 2017.
He also indicated that the year-on-year food inflation rate for October 2017 was 8.2 percent, compared to 8.1 percent recorded in September 2017, adding that the year-on-year non-food inflation rate (13.2 percent) was more than one and half times that of the food inflation rate (8.2 percent).
“In October 2017, the year-on-year inflation rate for imported items (12.2 percent) was 0.8 percentage point higher than that of locally produced items (11.4 percent).
“The main ‘price drivers’ for the non-food inflation rate were Transport (18.5 percent); Clothing and footwear (17.1 percent); Recreation and Culture (16.8 percent); Miscellaneous goods and services (14.5 percent) and Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance (14.4 percent).”
He revealed that the ‘price drivers’ for the food inflation rate was fish and sea food (16.1 percent).
Five regions (Greater Accra, Western, Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and Eastern) recorded inflation rates higher than the national average of 11.6 percent.
Greater Accra and Western Regions recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 12.3 percent, followed by Eastern, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions (11.9 percent), while the Upper East Region recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation (9.1 percent) in October 2017.
By Samuel Boadi