Namibia’s annual inflation rate for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased to 4.4% in November 2024, up from 3.2% in the same period last year, latest data shows.
According to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), this category, which accounts for 28.4% of the Namibia Consumer Price Index (NCPI), remained unchanged month-over-month, with a 0.0% inflation rate compared to 1.0% in October.
“The primary drivers of the annual inflation rate of 3.0% in November 2024 were housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels,” the NSA report read.
NSA said the headline annual inflation rate for November 2024 stood at 3.0%, a decrease from the 5.7% recorded in November 2023.
On a monthly basis, the inflation rate was at 0.3 per cent, slightly lower than the 0.4 per cent registered in the previous month. On the other hand, core inflation stood at 3.9 per cent.
Meanwhile, NSA said the food and non-alcoholic beverages category, which constitutes 16.5% of the consumer basket, registered an annual inflation rate of 5.3% in November 2024, marking a significant decline from 9.2% in November 2023.
However, on a monthly basis, inflation in this category accelerated to 0.7%, up from 0.3% the previous month.
Within this category, the food subcomponent (14.8% of the consumer basket) saw notable changes.
Bread and cereals, which have the highest weight (4.8%), continued to influence food inflation alongside other staples like meat (3.5%) and vegetables (1.2%).
In particular, NSA highlighted that prices for vegetables, including potatoes and other tubers, saw a moderate annual increase of 4.9% compared to 16.9% in November 2023.
The slowdown was reflected in items such as potatoes (from 44.4% to 3.2%) and pumpkins (from 24.6% to 2.8%).
Similarly, the fish subcomponent experienced a significant reduction in annual inflation, dropping to 2.4% from 16.9% a year ago.
“On a monthly basis, the inflation rate in November 2024 was 0.7 percent, up from 0.3 percent recorded in the previous month,” the report read.
Additionally, the transport category, accounting for 14.3% of the consumer basket, recorded a deflation rate of -3.5% in November 2024, largely due to declining prices for personal transport equipment such as petrol and diesel.
Meanwhile, the alcoholic beverages and tobacco category saw its annual inflation rate slow to 4.8% from 8.0% the previous year.
NSA noted that in Zone 1 (comprising Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa and Zambezi), the year-on-year inflation rate during the review period stood at 2.3 percent, a decline from 6.4 percent in November 2023.
NSA said the slowdown was observed across most divisions, except for health, which rose from 1.3 percent to 3.2 per cent, and hotels, cafés and restaurants, which increased from 2.0 per cent to 3.0 per cent.
On a monthly basis, the inflation rate remained steady at 0.3 per cent, the same as the preceding month, according to the NSA.
In Zone 2 (Khomas), the year-on-year inflation rate increased by 4.1 per cent, slowing from 5.3 per cent recorded in the same period of 2023.
NSA said the slowdown was seen across all divisions except for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which rose significantly from 2.5 per cent to 10.3 per cent, and clothing and footwear, which increased from 1.6 per cent to 2.7 per cent.
Monthly inflation rose by 0.2 per cent, down from 0.6 per cent in the prior month.
For Zone 3 (//Kharas, Erongo, Hardap and Omaheke), the NSA said the year-on-year inflation rate stood at 2.3 per cent in November 2024, a decline from 5.3 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The decrease was primarily attributed to lower price levels in transport, which dropped from 4.9 per cent to -4.4 per cent, and miscellaneous goods and services, which fell from 8.3 per cent to 4.3 per cent.
