Ghana’s food inflation ranked 6th highest in Africa
Ghana’s headline inflation rate of 25.8% for March 2024 has been ranked the sixth (6th) highest on the African Continent.
Zimbabwe topped the list earning the unenviable position as the country with the highest inflation rate of 55.3%.
Guinea was the country with the least headline inflation figure of 5.7%.
| Rank | Country | Inflation Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zimbabwe | 55.3% |
| 2 | Sierra Leone | 47.42% |
| 3 | Malawi | 33.5% |
| 4 | Nigeria | 31.7% |
| 5 | Ethiopia | 29.4% |
| 6 | Ghana | 25.8% |
| 7 | Angola | 24% |
| 8 | Burundi | 17.7% |
| 9 | The Gambia | 16.2% |
| 10 | Guinea | 5.7% |
Inflation for March 2024 surged to 25.8%, up from 23.2% in the preceding month (February), according to data released by the Ghana Statistical Service.
Non-food inflation went up by 22.6 percent while food inflation increased to 29.6%.
Locally produced items and imported items went up by 26.6% and 23.8% respectively.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages as well as transport were identified as the main drivers for the increase in the overall inflation for March 2024.
According to a new report by the United Nations, food inflation and the weakening of domestic currencies are still major drivers of inflation across African countries.
In countries where food inflation is low, the report noted that the lower inflation in Sub-Saharan Africa could be attributed to the normalisation of global supply chains, the steady decline in commodity prices, and the effects of monetary tightening and fiscal consolidation across countries.
The report also added that adverse weather events disrupting food supplies (for instance, floods in East Africa, droughts in Southern Africa, as well as hot and dry weather in West Africa), the high cost of food imports in local currencies (as a result of exchange rate depreciation), and elevated logistics costs abroad (higher shipping costs) and at home (high cost of transportation and elevated price of fertilisers) still explain the food inflation dynamics in this group of countries.
