Year-on-year inflation crossed the 30% mark to hit 31.7% in the month of July 2022, data from the Ghana Statistical Service has revealed.

This is the highest inflation rate recorded since late 2003.

However, the rate of inflation slowed down in the month under review, as inflation went up by 1.9% over that of June 2022 (29.8%).

According to the GSS, the increase in inflation was once again caused by Transport (44.6%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (43.0%); Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (42.0%); Recreation, Sport and Culture (33.8%); Personal Care, Social Protection and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (33.7%) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (32.3%).

Indeed, six divisions recorded inflation rates higher than the national average.

Food inflation went up to 32.3% in July 2022, from 30.7% in June 2022.

Again, non-food inflation also shot up to 31.3% in July 2022, from 29.1% the previous month.

Similarly, inflation for locally produced items was 30.9%, whereas inflation for imported items was 33.9%.

For the food group, Oils and Fats (67%); Fish and Other Seafood (42.9%); Water (42.4%); Cereal Products (40.0%); Milk, Dairy Products and Eggs (39.7%); Fruit and Vegetable Juices (37.7%); Live Animals and Meat (34.5%) and Sugar and Desserts (32.7%) recorded inflation rates higher than the food inflation rate of 32.3%.

For the month-on-month, the inflation rate between June 2022 and July 2022 was 3.1%.

Regional inflation

Eastern region recorded the highest inflation rate of 38.1%, followed by Western and Greater Accra with inflation rates of 37.6% and 35.5% respectively.

The Upper East region registered the lowest inflation rate of 19.8%.

The region with the lowest inflation rate was Upper East (15.7%), whilst Upper West recorded the least inflation rate of 21.2% for the non-food group.

On a quarterly basis, the average rate of inflation has increased by 10.7 percentage points. In the second quarter of 2022, it stood at 27.0% relative to the first quarter of 16.3%.

Every month, prices are collected for approximately 39,500 products. Price collection is done in 44 markets.

Prices are also collected from 7,726 outlets.