Ghana’s year-on-year inflation rate increased to 5.0% in August 2026, from 4.6% in July, driven largely by rising costs in housing, water and energy, transport, education and other services.
The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, show a 0.4 percentage-point increase in annual inflation, although the rate remains significantly below the 11.5% recorded in August 2025.
Despite the annual increase, average prices fell by 1% between July and August 2026, marking the sharpest month-on-month decline recorded so far this year.
The Government Statistician said the figures should be interpreted as a measure of the pace at which prices are changing rather than the absolute level of prices.
“Inflation measures how fast prices in general are rising or falling across the economy, not how high they already are. It does not tell you whether prices are high or low. It tells you whether they are heating up or cooling down and how fast they are doing so.”
Food inflation eased marginally to 3% in August from 3.1% in July, while non-food inflation increased sharply to 6.8%, from 6.1%.
Services remained the strongest source of price pressure, with inflation reaching 8.6%, compared with 8.5% in July and more than twice the 3.8% recorded for goods.
According to the GSS, locally produced items recorded inflation of 6.1%, up from 5.9%, while imported items increased to 2.2% from 2%.
The Government Statistician said the figures indicate that inflationary pressures are increasingly domestic in nature.
“Ghana’s inflation is now overwhelmingly homegrown. Domestic costs such as transport, energy, wages, and rent matter far more than what happens on the world markets.”
Housing, water and energy emerged as the largest contributor to the overall inflation rate, accounting for 29.5% of total inflation. Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed another 29.1%, followed by transport at 13.2%, education services at 7.5%, and restaurants and hotels at 4.8%.
Together, the five categories accounted for about 84% of total inflation in August.
At the item level, fresh tomatoes recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate at 158.3%, followed by ginger at 128.3%, shrimps at 67.1%, mango at 57.7%, and parking space and other services at 40%.
However, some food items recorded significant price declines. Lime prices fell by 33.7% year-on-year, maize by 31.3%, cocoyam leaves by 24.8%, sweet apple by 23.5%, and fried fish by 23.2%.
Regional variations also remained significant. The Central Region recorded the highest inflation at 11.1%, followed by Greater Accra at 5%. Eastern Region’s inflation eased from 6.1% to 4%, while Northern Region recorded 0.6%, down from 2.1%.
The GSS noted that Ashanti and Greater Accra together account for 63.6% of the national consumption basket, giving movements in prices in the two regions a substantial influence on the national inflation rate.
The latest figures mean inflation has declined by more than half from the 11.5% recorded a year earlier, despite rising from its lowest point of 3.2% in March 2026.
The Government Statistician urged households to take advantage of easing food inflation while paying close attention to services-related expenses.
“Food inflation at 3% actually gives some breathing space to save and budget. But watch your services bills closely, especially transport, rent, and school fees, since services actually rose 8.6%.”
The GSS said the CPI is compiled from prices collected from about 8,300 outlets across 57 markets in all 16 regions, covering a basket of 307 goods and services.
