Producer Price Inflation marginally decreases in January 2023
Ghana’s Producer Price Inflation (PPI) for January 2023 has shown a marginal decrease of 0.1 percentage point to 52.1% compared to the previous month’s rate of 52.2%.
This is according to data from the Ghana Statistical Service, which indicates that the Mining and Quarrying sub-sector recorded the highest PPI rate of 68.2%, followed by the Transport and Storage sub-sector at 62.6%, while Information and Communication recorded the lowest PPI rate of 1.2%.
The decrease in the PPI rate can be attributed to various factors within different sub-sectors. In the Mining and Quarrying sub-sector, the PPI rate decreased by 5.3 percentage points from 73.4% in December 2022 to 68.2% in January 2023.
The extraction of crude and natural gas recorded a significant decrease of 23.3 percentage points over the November 2022 rate of 82.9%, while the mining of metal ores increased to 4.7% in January 2023. Mining support service activities recorded the least inflation rate of 44.9 percent.
The Manufacturing sub-sector also recorded a decrease in the PPI rate by 11.0 percentage points to 53.3% in January 2023. Within this sub-sector, 10 of the 23 major groups recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 53.3%.
The manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products, and nuclear fuel recorded the highest inflation rate of 166.8%, followed by the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals, and botanical products at 123.7%. The manufacture of wearing apparel recorded the least inflation of 0.5%.
In contrast, the Water Supply, Sewerage, and Waste Management sub-sector recorded a stable PPI rate. The water collection, treatment, and supply inflation remained unchanged at 25.1% in January 2023, while waste collection, treatment, and disposal activities recorded an inflation rate of 25.7%, indicating an increase of 3.8 percentage points. This sub-sector recorded the lowest year-on-year producer inflation rate.
The slight decrease in the overall PPI rate suggests that the cost of goods and services at the producer level has not increased significantly in January 2023 compared to the previous month. The month-on-month change in the PPI rate was 0.9%, which suggests a slight increase.
These changes in the PPI rate can be attributed to various factors such as fluctuations in the global market prices of commodities, changes in input costs, and changes in exchange rates.
Overall, the PPI data for January 2023 highlights the importance of monitoring inflation trends in different sub-sectors of the economy. As Ghana continues to pursue its economic growth agenda, it is essential to maintain stable inflation rates to ensure sustainable economic development.
