THE Producer Price Inflation (PPI) rate for August 2022 shot up from the 41.2 per cent recorded in July 2022 to 46 per cent, the Ghana Statistical Service has announced.
This represents an increase of 4.8 percentage points.
The PPI measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services.
It is also a major indicator of what the general price levels of goods and services within a period will be within the period.
The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, in announcing the new rate yesterday, said the August rate was driven largely by increases in the manufacturing sector which recorded the highest year-on-year producer price inflation rate of 61.7 per cent.
This was followed by the mining and quarrying sub-sector with 35.7 per cent.
The utility sub-sector recorded the lowest year-on-year producer inflation rate of 1.7 per cent.
PPI trends
In August 2021, the producer price inflation rate for all industry was 8.1 per cent and had increased continuously and consistently over the last 12 months to 46 per cent in August 2022.
Manufacturing sector
In August 2022, one out of the 16 major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 61.7 per cent.
Manufacture of soft drinks, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel recorded the highest inflation rate of 170.3 per cent.
The manufacture of machinery and equipment recorded the least inflation rate of 3.7 per cent.
Petroleum Price Index
The producer inflation rate in the petroleum sub-sector was 25.3 per cent in August 2021.
After that, it increased continuously to 58.4 per cent in November 2021, but dropped to 36 per cent in January 2022.
Between February and August 2022, the rate increased consistently from 44.3 per cent to 170.3 per cent.
Side bar
– The producer price index PPI measures inflation from the perspective of costs to industry or producers of products.
– Because it measures price changes before they reach consumers, some people see it as an earlier predictor of inflation than the CPI.
– PPI data is segmented into three main areas of classification, with the core PPI, the most-watched.
– With these in mind, there is an indication that this month’s inflation rate will rise again.
