Ghana’s inflation rate dropped to 8.0 per cent year-over-year in October against 9.4 per cent in September. This is the lowest since mid-2021 and the tenth straight monthly decline.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, this decrease was driven by lower food and goods prices. Notably, month-over-month inflation fell to -0.4 per cent, indicating a slight drop in headline prices across various consumer categories.
Analysts see this as a turning point, suggesting that price pressures may not just be slowing but actually receding.
The sustained downward trend reflects the impact of a stable currency, easing fuel prices, and improved food supply conditions across the country.
Food prices led the decline, slowing to 9.5 per cent from 11.0 per cent, while non-food inflation dropped to 6.9 per cent from 8.2 per cent.
Key contributors to the decline included cereals, vegetables, and oil products, likely due to improved domestic supply and seasonal harvests.
Goods inflation, which captures tangible items such as clothing, household appliances, and processed food, eased to 9.3 per cent, while services inflation, covering transport, housing, and education, slipped marginally to 4.6 per cent.
Convergence
This means that Inflation has now converged to the Bank of Ghana’s 8 per cent target range, which has a 6–10 per cent tolerance band, supported by favourable exchange rate movements.
The cedi has rallied almost 35 per cent this year on the back of strong cocoa and gold prices. Food inflation eased to 9.5 per cent, compared with 11 per cent in September, while non-food price growth cooled to 6.9 per cent from 8.2 per cent.
On a monthly basis, the CPI fell by 0.4 per cent, following a 0.9 per cent increase in the previous month.
The goods-to-services inflation gap highlights the enduring sensitivity of consumer prices to input costs and import dynamics, even as service-sector inflation remains relatively muted.
But one striking detail of the data is the divergence between local and imported inflation trends.
Locally produced items registered 8.0 per cent year-on-year inflation, matching the national average, but were down 0.7 per cent month-on-month, suggesting domestic supply chains are stabilising.
Imported goods, meanwhile, recorded 7.8 per cent inflation, slightly lower than September’s figure, though their month-on-month change was positive at 0.3 per cent, a reminder that Ghana’s external exposure remains a potential spoiler for price stability.
Cedi
For many, a strengthening cedi, coupled with lower global food and fuel costs, has softened imported price pressures.
Yet global uncertainty, from shipping disruptions in the Red Sea to fluctuations in oil prices, means Ghana’s import-linked inflation could still turn quickly if global supply chains tighten again.
Regional disparities also tell a revealing story. The North East Region recorded the highest inflation rate at 17.3 per cent, more than double the national average, while Bono East posted the lowest at just 1.1 per cent.
Such a stark divide underscores Ghana’s uneven inflation geography, one shaped by infrastructure gaps, transport costs, and market access inequalities between urban and rural zones.
Source: Graphic
