The year-on-year inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 9.6 percent in July 2018, down by 0.4 percentage point from the 10.0 percent recorded in June 2018.
The monthly change rate for July 2018 was 1.0 percent compared to 0.4 percent recorded for June 2018.
While the non-food group inflation rate fell by 0.5 percentage point from 11.2% in June 2018 to 10.7% in July 2018 and was mainly responsible for the fall in the overall rate of inflation, the food group inflation rate rose slightly from 7.3% in June 2018 to 7.4% in July 2018.
The price drivers for July 2018 were mainly due to a fall in the rates of inflation for some items.
These include the Hotels, Cafes and Restaurants group (1.4%), Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics (1.1%), Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance group (0.8%), Clothing and Footwear group (0.7%), Miscellaneous Goods and Services group (0.7%), Transport group (0.5%), Communication group (0.5%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Others Fuels group (0.4%), Recreation and Culture group (0.4%) and Education group.
Six subgroups of the food and non-alcoholic beverages group recorded inflation rates higher than the group’s average rate of 7.4 percent.
The non-food group recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 10.7 percent in July 2018 compared to the 11.2 percent recorded for June 2018.
Five sub-groups recorded year-on-year inflation rates higher than the group’s average rate of 10.7 percent.
Clothing and footwear recorded the highest inflation rate of 15.4 percent, followed by Transport with 15.0 percent, Recreation and culture with 13.4 percent, Furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance with 12.5 percent and Miscellaneous goods and services with 12.0 percent.
Inflation was lowest in the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Others Fuels subgroup (3.0%).
At the regional level, the year-on-year inflation rate ranged from 7.8 percent in Upper East Region to 11.5 percent in Upper West Region.
Five regions (Upper West, Brong Ahafo, Western, Ashanti and Northern) recorded inflation rates above the national average rate of 9.6 percent.
By Samuel Boadi