Producer Price Inflation increases sharply to 16.5%

The year-on-year inflation rate at ex-factory prices for all goods and services was 16.5% in March 2024, the Ghana Statistical Services has disclosed.

This is compared with 12.5% in February 2024.

Meanwhile, the month-on-month producer inflation rate was 4.3%.

According to the GSS, the Construction sector registered the highest year-on-year inflation of 56.5%, followed by Electricity and Gas (27.0%) and Mining and Quarrying (26.7%).

Water Supply, Sewerage, Waste (7.4%); Manufacturing (7.1%), and Information and Communication (6.2%) registered the lowest year-on-year inflation.

Electricity and gas recorded a 27% inflation rate for March 2024, an increase of 7.5 percentage points over the February rate of (19.5%)

11 sub-groups within the Manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates above the sub-sector average.

They included the Manufacture of Motor Vehicles and Trailers (65.2%); the Manufacture of Beverages (38.4%) and the Manufacture of Wearing Apparel (24.0%).

For the Services sector, Air Transport recorded the highest year-on-year inflation of 30.5%. It was followed by Postal and Courier Activities (25.0%) and Programming and Broadcasting Activities (19.3%).

Also, the Service producer price inflation in the Transport and Storage sub-sector increased by 0.9 percentage points over the February 2024 rate of 11.2% to 12.1% in March 2024.

The Accommodation and Food Services subsector rate increased by 5.5 percentage points to 20.9% in March 2024. The Information and Communication sub-sector recorded an inflation rate of 6.2 percent for March 2024.

Meanwhile, the producer price inflation in the industry sector excluding the construction sector increased to 20.7% in March 2024 from 11.8% in February 2024. The rate in the construction sector increased to 56.5% in March 2024.