Producer price inflation increases to 32.7 % in July

The country’s year-on-year Producer Price Inflation (PPI) inched up to 32.7 per cent in July 2023 from 29.2 per cent in June 2023, the Ghana Statistical Ser­vice (GSS) has announced.

For the monthly PPI, the GSS said, the rate rose from 0.6 per cent in June to 0.8 per cent in July.

The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel K. Annim, who announced this in Accra yester­day, explained that the July PPI rate was provisional and would be updated as additional information was being collected.

He said the rise in the PPI was driven by the increase in the year-on-year PPI rate of electricity and gas sub-sector and mining and quarrying.

The Government Statistician said electricity and gas sub-sector recorded the highest year-on-year producer price inflation rate of 69.6 per cent.

Prof. Annim said PPI for mining and quarrying rose to 38.9 per cent in July from 31.0 in June, representing an increase of 7.9 per cent, adding the rise in the PPI in mining and quarrying was influenced by mining metal ores which recorded PPI rate of 65.7 per cent, mining less crude oil, 64.3 per cent and other mining and quarrying, 50.8 per cent.

“The mining and quarrying sub-sector recorded the highest monthly inflation rate of 1.6 per cent,” he stated.

He said the PPI for manufac­turing increased by 0.8 per cent to 28.0 per cent in July 2023.

Prof. Annim said the PPI for industry rose to 35.7 per cent in July from 31.3 in June, while that of construction fell to 18.5 per cent in July from 19.3 per cent in June, and service also fell margin­ally to 17.0 per cent in July from 17.6 per cent in June.

The Government Statistician indicated that industry electricity and gas sub-sector drove the pro­ducer inflation rate of the sector.

 In the construction sector, Prof. Annim said construction of buildings sub-sector recorded the highest year-on-year producer inflation rate of 24.5 per cent, followed by the civil engineering sub-sector with 16.4 per cent, and the specialised construction sub-sector recorded the lowest year-on-year producer rate of 6.2 per cent.

BY KINGSLEY ASARE