Inflation drops again to 20.9% in July

Inflation for July has fallen to 20.9% from 22.8% in June, marking the fourth consecutive month of reduction.

The July rate is also the lowest in 28 months.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Government Statistician Professor Samuel Annim reported that non-food inflation dropped to 20.5% while food inflation dropped to 21.5% from 24.0% in June.

The inflation rate for domestically produced goods was 23.3%, while the inflation rate for imported goods was 15.6%, down from 17.5% in the previous month.

Food inflation contributed 21.5% to all inflation compared to June’s food inflation of 24.0%, with the month-on-month food inflation being 1.7%. 

However, non-food inflation also contributed 20.5%, compared to June’s non-food inflation of 21.6%, with the month-on-month being 2.4%, according to the government statistician.

Prof. Annim linked the overall decrease in inflation to reductions in both food and non-food categories.

He further ascribed the decrease in imported inflation to the slowdown of the cedi depreciation and gave the increase in the cost of production domestically as the reason for the relatively high inflation for locally produced goods.

At the regional level, Upper East recorded the highest inflation rate of 26.9%, while North East Region recorded the lowest regional inflation rate of 12.5%. 

The government is seeking to attain an inflation rate of between 13 and 17% by the end of 2024.