Ghana was yesterday celebrating the fall of the inflation rate to 23.2%, down from 26.4% in November last year. According to the Ghana’s Statistical Service (GSS), the inflation rate fell for the fifth consecutive month to 23.2 per cent in December 2023 compared to 26.4 per cent in November, the Ghana Statistical Service said on Wednesday.
Togo.
Ghana’s inflation levels, however, seem to be doing poorly compared to other West African countries who are neighbours. For instance, the Directorate General of Statistics and National Accounts (DGSCN) of Togo projects that the annual inflation rate in Togo slowed to 3.9% in November 2023 from 5.0% in the previous month. Main downward pressures came from lower inflation of food & non-alcoholic beverages (3.4% vs 5.4% in October), housing & utilities (0.2% vs 2.0%), and restaurants & hotels (11.8% vs 13.4%). In contrast, prices primarily accelerated for alcoholic beverages & tobacco (1.2% vs -0.4%) and education (5.1% vs 4.0%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices grew 0.3%, easing from a 0.7% increase in October.
The Ivory Coast has a similarly pleasant story. The annual inflation rate in the Ivory Coast stood at 3.7% in November 2023, unchanged from the previous month. Prices slowed down for some CPI items such as transportation (6% vs 6.4% in October); restaurants & hotels (3.2% vs 5%); clothing & footwear (1.1% vs 1.6%) and health (1% vs 1.2%). Conversely, prices accelerated further for food & non-alcoholic beverages (6.2% vs 5.7%), notably fresh vegetables (12.3% vs 7.7%), fish (12.4% vs 6.8%) and oils & fats (11.8% vs 10.9%); furnishings & household equipment (3.1% vs 2.4%) and alcoholic beverages & tobacco (1.3% vs 0.9%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up by 0.2% in November, following a similar decrease in the prior m month. (Source: Institut National de la Statistique).
The good news even flowed to troubled Burkina Faso. Consumer prices in Burkina Faso rose 0.5% year-on-year in November 2023, following a 1.6% drop in the previous month. It marked the first consumer inflation since April, mainly driven by an acceleration in prices for alcoholic beverages & tobacco (9.8% vs -4.2% in October), and housing & utilities (11.7% vs 9.7%). At the same time, costs decreased at a slower pace for food & non-alcoholic beverages (-2.0% vs -5.2%). On a monthly basis, the CPI grew 0.6%, after a 0.1% fall in October. source: Institut National de la Statistique et de la Demographie, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso’s economy is projected to grow at 5 per cent in 2023 and 5.3 per cent in 2024. Inflation is projected to fall but remain above the 3 per cent threshold in the WAEMU. The inflation rate is expected to fall from 7.1 per cent in 2023 to 5.6 per cent in 2024. https://www.bidc-ebid.org/en/burkinafaso/, an online source published by the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID),
In Accra, Ghana, we were however beating our chest because the inflation rate had allegedly fallen for the fifth consecutive month to 23.2 per cent in December 2023 compared to 26.4 per cent in November, the Ghana Statistical Service said on Wednesday.
This means that in December 2023 the general price level was 23.2 percent higher than December 2022.
Month-on-month inflation between November 2023 and December 2023 was 1.2 per cent
Professor Samuel Anim, the Government Statistician at a press briefing, said the Consumer Price Index for December 2023 was 200.6 relative to 162.8 for December 2022.
Food inflation was at 28.7 per cent in December compared to 32.2 per cent the previous month with the month-on-month food inflation at 1.3 per cent.
Meanwhile, non-food inflation was also down at 18.7 per cent, compared to 21.7 per cent in November. The Month-on-month non-food inflation stood at 1.0 per cent.
Inflation for imported items was 29.1 per cent compared to that for locally produced items, which was 23.8 per cent.
On regional basis, the Eastern Region recorded the highest inflation rate of 35.2 per cent while the Greater Accra Region was the region with the lowest inflation rate of 16.0 per cent.
