January Records Highest Price Inflation

Between January 2013 and January 2014, the producer price inflation rate increased by 23.3 percent year-on-year, representing an increase of 8.0 percentage points.

The month-on-month change in producer prices between December 2013 and January 2014 was also 7.2 percent.

Dr Philomena Nyarko, acting Government Statistician, who disclosed this at a press conference recently in Accra, said in January 2014, seven out of the 16 major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 24.2 percent.

Manufacture of machinery and equipment, she noted, recorded the highest inflation rate of 76.0 percent while producer prices in the manufacture of electrical machinery and apparatus recorded the lowest inflation rate of -0.8 percent over the one year period.

The inflation rate in the petroleum sub-sector recorded a negative inflation of -1.3 percent in January 2013.

However, the inflation rate rose in March 2013 and increased consistently to record 33.6 percent in September 2013 but decreased in October 2013 to record 30.0 percent.

In January 2014, increases in petroleum prices resulted in a sharp increase in the petroleum sub-sector inflation, which recorded 48.3 percent.

The utilities sub-sector recorded the highest year-on-year producer price inflation rate of 55.3 percent, followed by the manufacturing sub-sector with 24.2 percent.

The mining and quarrying subsector recorded an inflation rate of -5.8 percent.

The monthly changes in the producer price index indicated that utilities recorded a monthly inflation rate of 10.2 percent while mining and quarrying recorded 9.4 percent. The manufacturing sub-sector recorded the lowest monthly rate of 5.9 percent.

The rate for the Utilities sub-sector rose by 14.3 percentage points relative to December 2013 (41.0 percent) to record 55.3 percent in January 2014.

The producer price inflation fluctuated from January 2013 until March 2013 when it declined continuously over a five-month period to record the lowest rate of 4.7 percent in August 2013.