The Month Of August Records 12.3% Inflation

Ghana's inflation reached 12.3 percent in August 2017.

This represents a negative 0.2 percent change in the inflation rate between July and August 2017.

The inflation for July 2017 stood at 11.9 percent.
Inflation measures the average rise in the prices of all consumer goods and services in the country.

The inflation rate for August 2017 is the second time the rate has gone up this year.

The first time in over eight months that the inflation rate went up was in April 2017 when it recorded 13 percent.

According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the inflation for food groups such as meat and meat products, fish, fruits and vegetables recorded inflation of 7.4%.

Inflation for the non- food categories such as transportation and utilities was 14.7 percent.

Explaining the causes of the rise in the inflation rate, the Acting Government Statistician, Baah Wadieh blamed the development on the rise in

“For most part of the one year series the inflation for imported items has remained higher than that of locally produced ones. For August 2017, the inflation rate for imported items was 2.1 percentage points. That is 13.8 as against 11.7 percent,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Upper West region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 13.4%.

The Upper East region on the other hand, recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation (11.0%) in August 2017.