The annual inflation rate increased by 6.1% last month compared to 5.6% recorded in April last year, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) announced this week.
The spike in inflation was attributed to price increases in food, non-alcoholic beverages, transportation, and household goods which highlights a difficult economic climate for consumers.
“The highest changes in the annual inflation rate were mainly observed in the categories of food and non-alcoholic beverages (13.5%); recreation and culture (8.2%); furnishings, household equipment and maintenance of the house (7.6%); miscellaneous goods and services (7.5%) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (6.7%),” NSA’s Statistician-General and CEO Alex Shimuafeni said.
NSA notes that housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which make up 28.4% of the consumer basket, recorded an increase in annual inflation of 2.6 percent in April 2023 as opposed to 1.7 percent in April 2022.
On a monthly basis, the inflation rate decreased from the 0.6% recorded the prior month to 0.4%.
“The slow increase in the monthly inflation rate emanated mainly from transport (1.9% to 0.5%); gotels,cafes, and restaurants (0.6% to 0.1%) and food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.9 % to 0.5%).”
Shimuafeni said on a monthly basis, Zone 2 and 1 recorded the highest monthly price changes of 0.6% and 0.3% and Zone 3 recorded the slightest monthly change of 0.2%.
“Zone 1 (Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, and Zambezi) had the highest annual inflation rate of 6.3 percent based on price changes at the zonal level for April 2023,” he said.
He added that Zone 3 (//Kharas, Erongo, Hardap, and Omaheke) is the next-closest zone, having an inflation rate of 6.0%, while Zone 2 (Khomas) had the lowest annual inflation rate of 5.9%.
“Analysis of the average retail prices of selected products for the month April 2023 revealed that consumers in Zone 2 paid the highest price for pure sunflower oil (750 ml) at N$36.89 followed by Zone 3 at N$36.40, while consumers in Zone 1 paid the lowest price of N$36.07.
For white bread (standard loaf), consumers in Zone 2 paid the lowest price at N$13.16 while the highest price was paid by consumers residing in Zone 3 at N$13.70,” said Shimuafeni.
He added that consumers in Zone 3 paid the lowest price for brown sugar (1kg) at N$18.90, with the highest price paid by consumers in Zone 2 at N$19.99.
Meanwhile, the food and non-alcoholic beverages which accounts for 16.5% of the NCPI basket, registered a year-on-year inflation rate of 13.5% during the period under review, compared to 5.7% obtained during the corresponding period of 2022.
On a monthly basis, price levels for this category increased by 0.5% during April 2023 compared to 0.9% recorded during the preceding month.
