Food, beverages, tobacco, household expenses and a less deflationary trend in transport inflation are now Namibia’s primary drivers of headline inflation, official figures reveal.
This comes as headline inflation for October 2023 stood at 6.0%, a decline from the 7.1% observed in October 2022. On a monthly basis, the inflation rate remained unchanged at 0.8% compared to the previous month.
According to Namibia’s Consumer Price Index (NCPI) by the Namibia Statistics Agency, food and non-alcoholic beverages played a substantial role, contributing 1.8%.
Similarly, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, along with transport, each contributed 1.0 percentage points, while housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels contributed 0.8 percentage points.
“The divisions that witnessed the most significant shifts were recreation and culture (10.4%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (9.4%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (7.7%), hotels, cafés, and restaurants (7.5%), transport (6.6%), furnishings, household equipment, and routine maintenance of the house (5.6%), and miscellaneous goods and services (5.4%),” said NSA Statistician-General and CEO Alex Shimuafeni.
Meanwhile, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, accounting for 28.4% of the consumer basket, saw a notable increase in the annual inflation rate, rising to 3.3% in October 2023 compared to 2.3% in October 2022.
On a monthly basis, the inflation rate for this component remained steady at 0.3%.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages, representing 16.5% of the NCPI basket, recorded an annual inflation rate of 9.4% in October 2023, slightly higher than the 9.1% in the corresponding period of 2022.
The transport category, constituting 14.3% of the consumer basket, experienced a significant shift with an annual inflation rate of 6.6% in October 2023, a notable decrease from the 17.8% recorded in October 2022.
“This change was attributed to subcomponents such as the operation of personal transport equipment (from 26.8% to 7.5%) and public transportation services (from 6.8% to 0.5%). On a monthly basis, this category saw an increase of 3.5% compared to the previous month’s 2.9%,” said the CEO.
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco saw a year-on-year inflation rate of 7.7% in October 2023, up from 6.7% in the previous year. On a monthly basis, the inflation rate for the category stood at 0.2%, a decrease from the 0.8% registered a month earlier.
According to the NSA zonal level, Zone 1, comprising Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, and Zambezi regions, recorded the highest annual inflation rate of 6.6%.
Zone 2 (Khomas Region) followed with 5.7%, while Zone 3 (//Kharas, Erongo, Hardap, and Omaheke regions) had the lowest annual inflation rate estimated at 5.6%.
A closer look at average retail prices in October 2023 revealed interesting insights.
In Zone 1, consumers paid the highest price for fillet steak per kg at N$249.97, while Zone 3 recorded the lowest at N$238.26.
For chicken, frozen assorted pieces per 1.5kg, consumers in Zone 3 paid the highest at N$96.04, followed by Zone 2 at N$84.79, and Zone 1 paid the least at N$80.49.
