Prof Samuel Annim, Gov’t Statistician
THE YEAR-on-year producer inflation for all industry was 9.1 per cent in January 2021, while the monthly change rate was 3.5 per cent.
In the Mining and Quarrying sub-sector, the producer price inflation decreased by 4.1 percentage points over the December 2020 rate of 31.5 per cent, to record 27.4 per cent in January 2021.
For the Manufacturing sub-sector, the producer inflation which constitutes more than two-thirds of the total industry increased by 3.7 percentage points to record 7.5 per cent. The utility sub-sector recorded no change in the inflation rate in January 2021.
In January 2020, the producer price inflation rate for all industry was 14.5 per cent. The rate declined to 6.8 per cent in March 2020. The rate increased continuously to record 9.5 per cent in June 2020 but declined to 9.0 per cent in August 2020.
The rate increased to record 9.7 per cent in September 2020 but declined continuously to record 7.0 per cent in December 2020. In January 2021, the rate increased to 9.1 per cent.
In January 2021, three out of the 16 major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 7.5 per cent.
Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers recorded the highest inflation rate of 37.7 per cent, while the manufacture of electrical machinery and apparatus (not elsewhere recorded) and manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. recorded the least inflation rate of 0.0 per cent.
The producer inflation rate in the petroleum subsector was 20.6 per cent in January 2020. The rate declined consistently to record 15.4 per cent in May 2020.
However, the rate increased to -4.5 per cent in June 2020 but declined to record -5.4 per cent in August 2020. Thereafter, it increased to -3.0 per cent in September and declined to -5.0 per cent in November 2020.
The rate increased to a record of 6.6 per cent in January 2021.
BY Samuel Boadi