The Producer Price Inflation (PPI) rate has recorded a marginal decrease of 0.8 percentage points as the ex-factory prices of goods and services hit 12.8 percent in December 2021, recently-released provisional data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has shown.
The figure represents year-on-year rate of change from December 2020 to December 2021 and measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services.
According to the Service, the manufacturing sub-sector – which constitutes more than two-thirds of total industry – was the biggest driver of producer-related inflation. “The manufacturing sub-sector recorded the highest year-on-year producer price inflation rate of 19.2 percent,” the report read in part.
This was followed by the utility sub-sector with 0.2 percent. The mining and quarrying sub-sector, on the other hand, recorded the lowest year-on-year producer inflation rate of 0.1 percent.
On the month-on-month changes, the report adds: “The utility sub-sector recorded no change in monthly inflation, followed by the manufacturing sub-sector which recorded a rate of -0.1 percent. Mining and quarrying recorded the least monthly inflation of -0.8 percent,” it added.
Manufacturing sector
The data showed that for the period under consideration, two out of the 16 major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 19.2 percent. Manufacturing of coke, refined petroleum products, and nuclear fuel recorded the highest inflation rate of 56.4 percent, with the manufacture of basic metals inching over the average at 20.1 percent.
At the other end of the spectrum, the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products saw a PPI of 1.64 percent, while motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers recorded the least inflation rate of -3.5 percent.
General trend
The PPI rate for all industry, excluding construction, as of December 2020 was 7.0 percent. The rate increased continuously to 13.0 percent in March 2021, but declined to 10.9 percent in April 2021.
In May 2021, the rate increased to 11.8 percent but decreased continuously to a record 8.1 percent in August 2021. The rate increased continuously to 13.6 percent in November 2021, but declined marginally to 12.8 percent in the next month. The producer inflation rate in the petroleum sub-sector was -4.0 percent in December 2020. The rate increased continuously to peak at 31.0 percent in March 2021 but declined to 23.9 percent in June 2021.
The rate increased continuously to record 58.4 percent in November 2021. However, it dropped to 56.4 percent in December 2021.
