Story: Business Desk

Ghana’s year-on-year inflation rate increased to 5.5% in October 2026, from 5.2% in September, as rising non-food and services inflation outweighed a further easing in food prices.

The latest figures, attributed to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), represent a 0.3 percentage point increase in the headline rate.

However, inflation remains 2.5 percentage points lower than the 8% recorded in October 2025.

The increase points to a shift in the sources of price pressure, with food inflation slowing while costs in other parts of the economy continue to rise.

Food inflation eased to 2.8% in October, down from 4% in September. In contrast, non-food inflation climbed to 7.9% from 6.2%, while services inflation rose more sharply to 11.5% from 8.3%.

The rise in services inflation is particularly significant because it points to stronger price pressures in areas such as transport, housing-related services and other household expenses.

These costs can affect household budgets even when food prices are rising more slowly.

The breakdown by origin also shows a widening difference between locally produced and imported items.

Inflation for locally produced items increased to 6.9% in October from 6.4% in September. Imported items inflation, however, remained unchanged at 2.4%.

This suggests that domestic price pressures remain more pronounced than those affecting imported goods.

It also means that the moderation in imported inflation has not translated into similar price stability across locally produced items.

Despite the increase in annual inflation, the consumer price index fell by 0.1% month-on-month in October, compared with a 1.1% increase in September.

The decline was largely associated with a 2% reduction in food prices during the month.

The contrasting movements highlight the difference between annual inflation and the monthly change in prices.