Producer Price Inflation for August Drops to 7%

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced that the Producer Price Inflation rate for August 2018 has reduced to 7.0 per cent.

This rate indicates that, between August 2017 and August 2018 (year-on-year), the PPI increased by 7.0 per cent. This rate represents a 1.2 percentage point decrease in producer inflation relative to the rate recorded in July 2018 (8.2%). The month-on-month change in producer price index between July 2018 and August 2018 was -0.1 per cent.

Addressing a press conference, acting Government Statistician Mr. Baah Wadieh attributed the drop to the prices of gold on the world market which affected the manufacturing subsector.

According to him, three out of the sixteen major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 10.0 percent.

The producer price inflation in the Mining and Quarrying sub-sector decreased by 5.6 percentage points over the July 2018 rate of 7.5 per cent to record 1.9 per cent in August 2018. The producer inflation for Manufacturing which constitutes more than two-thirds of total industry decreased by 0.4 percentage points to record 10.0 per cent. The utility sub-sector recorded inflation of -0.2 per cent in August 2018 indicating no change in inflation.

Mining sector

In August 2017, the producer price inflation rate for all industry was 6.6 per cent. The rate increased consistently to record 8.3 per cent in October 2017 but declined to 7.1 per cent in November 2017. In December 2017, the rate increased to 8.7 per cent but decreased consistently to record 3.7 per cent in March 2018. It increased to 6.4 per cent in April 2018 and then to 7.1 per cent in May 2018. The rate increased again to record 7.7 per cent in June 2018. In July 2018, the rate increased further to record 8.2 per cent but declined to 7.0 per cent in August 2018.

Manufacturing Sector

During the month of August 2018, three out of the sixteen major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 10.0 per cent. Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel recorded the highest inflation rate of 41.6 per cent, while Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products recorded the lowest producer price inflation rate of -0.5%.

Petroleum Price Index

The producer inflation rate in the petroleum sub-sector was 23.2 per cent in August 2017. Subsequently, it increased consistently to record 36.9 per cent in October 2017 but declined to 27.7 per cent in November 2017. The rate increased to 36.4 per cent in December 2017 but declined consistently to record 15.9 per cent in March 2018. Subsequently, the rate consistently increased to record 44.2 per cent in June 2018. The rate decreased to 42.2 per cent in July 2018 and then to 41.6 per cent in August 2018.

Highlights

The year-on-year producer inflation for all industry was 7.0 per cent in August 2018; the monthly change rate was -0.1 per cent.

The Manufacturing sub-sector recorded the highest year-on-year producer price inflation rate of 10.0 per cent, followed by the Mining and Quarrying sub-sector with 1.9 per cent. The utility sub-sector recorded the lowest year-on-year producer inflation of -0.2 per cent.

With respect to the monthly changes, Manufacturing recorded the highest inflation rate of 0.2 per cent followed by the utility sub-sector with 0.1 per cent. The Mining and quarrying sub-sector recorded -1.4 per cent.