Ghana’s annual inflation rate increased 0.8 percentage points to 23.8 percent in December from 23.0 percent a month earlier, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said Wednesday.
“The rise in inflation for the month of December marked the fourth consecutive increase in the rate since Sept. 2024,” said Samuel Kobina Annim, the government statistician at the GSS.
Annim noted that the increase was due to higher food inflation during the month under review.
Compared to November, food inflation climbed 1.9 percentage points to 27.8 percent in December, while non-food inflation declined by 0.4 percentage points to 20.3 percent, said the official.
During the year, inflation peaked at 25.7 percent in March, before declining to the lowest level of 20.3 percent in August.
Since August, the inflation rate has increased cumulatively by 3.5 percentage points to the current level of 23.8 percent amid economic reforms.
The West African cocoa, gold, and crude oil exporting country commenced economic reforms in May 2023, backed by a loan of 3 billion U.S. dollars from the International Monetary Fund to cure structural weaknesses that led to spiralling inflation rates and ballooning public debts with a volatile exchange rate regime. The new government of President John Dramani Mahama promised to take steps to turn the Ghana’s economic fortunes around.