Inflation in Ghana for May 2024 dropped significantly to 23.1%, a decrease from 25.0% in April 2024, according to the Ghana Statistical Service. This represents a 1.9 percentage point reduction. The decline was primarily driven by a decrease in food inflation, which fell to 22.6% in May from 26.8% in April.
In contrast, non-food inflation saw a slight increase, rising to 23.6% in May from 23.5% in April. Additionally, inflation for locally produced items decreased to 24.7%, while inflation for imported items fell to 19.6%.
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Government Statistician Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, speaking to journalists in Accra, emphasized the need for policymakers to shift their focus from food inflation to transportation costs, which experienced a significant month-on-month inflation rate of 10.5%, compared to the overall month-on-month inflation rate of 3.2%.
“In this case, what I want the media and policymakers to engage in is not food inflation but transport, where we are seeing month-on-month transport inflation of 10.5% when overall month-on-month is 3.2%. We all do appreciate how transport permeates across the other items that we have in the basket for the computation,” Professor Annim said.
He urged that the discussion concentrate on how to manage and potentially reduce the slow but consistent rise in food prices in the future. This shift in focus is essential to addressing the broader impact of transportation costs on overall inflation and the economy.
