Namibia’s annual consumer price inflation hit a high of 4.6% in January 2022 compared to 2.7% recorded in January last year.
“The main contributors to the annual inflation rate were Transport (2 percentage points) and Food and non-alcoholic beverages (1 percentage points),” NSA CEO and Statistician General, Alex Shimuafeni said.
“The highest change in the annual inflation rate were mainly witnessed in the categories of Transport (13.5%); Hotels, cafes and restaurants (9%); Furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house (8.8%); Food and non-alcoholic beverages (5.6%); Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (3.9%); Education (3.3%); Recreation & culture registered (2.8%); while Communications and Clothing and footwear registered a deflation of (1.1% and 1.5%), respectively.”
On a monthly basis, the inflation rate increased to 1.1% compared to 0.4% recorded a month earlier.
“This is the highest monthly inflation rate witnessed since February 2019. The main contributors to the monthly inflation rate recorded in January 2022 were Hotels, cafes, and restaurants (7.1%); Furnishing, household equipment and maintenance of the house (5.4%) and Education (3.1%).”
The Zonal inflation rates for the month of January 2022 revealed that Zone 2 (Khomas) recorded the highest annual inflation rate of 5.3% followed by Zone 3 (Hardap, Omaheke, //Karas, and Erongo) which recorded an annual inflation rate of 4.4 %.
“On a monthly basis, the highest inflation rate of 2% was registered in Zone 2 while Zone 1 (Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, and Zambezi) and 3 recorded monthly inflation rates of 0.5% and 0.4% respectively.
The average retail prices of selected products for the month of January revealed that consumers in Zone 3 paid the lowest price for 1.5 kg of frozen assorted pieces at N$64.99 followed by Zone 1 at N$66.82, while consumers in Zone 2 paid the highest price of N$73.54.
NSA data shows for white bread, consumers in Zone 1 paid the lowest price at N$10.74, while the highest price was recorded in Zone 2 at N$11.65.
For stewing beef per/kg, consumers in Zone 3 paid the highest price at N$91.61, while the lowest was paid by Zone 2 consumers at N$86.19
“We believe goods inflation will continue to be the biggest driver of higher local inflation rates, as a result of ongoing global supply chain constraints, elevated prices of commodities used to manufacture merchandise goods and higher global oil prices,” said Simonis Storm Securities.
IJG’s inflation model currently forecasts an average inflation rate of 4.2% year on year in 2022, “with risks tilted to the upside, particularly stemming from higher food costs and elevated fuel prices.”
