The year-on-year rise in prices for goods and services in the Ghanaian market slowed to 20.9% in July 2024, down from 22.8% in June 2024, according to the Ghana Statistical Service. This marks the fourth consecutive month of decreasing inflation and is the first time since November 2023 that inflation has fallen for more than three consecutive months.

Both food and non-food inflation rates also eased from their June 2024 levels. Food inflation decreased from 24.0% to 21.5%, while non-food inflation dropped from 21.6% to 20.5%. Despite this slowdown, food inflation continues to be the major contributor to the overall inflation rate. Notably, certain categories experienced inflation rates higher than the national average of 20.9%, including housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels (28.6%), restaurants and accommodation services (28.3%), alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics (26.8%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (21.5%), and health (21.2%).

Month-on-month inflation for July 2024 saw a slowdown to 2.1%. This moderation was largely driven by a 5.5% increase in the cost of financial and insurance services and a 4.7% rise in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels.

Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, the government statistician, has attributed the recent slowdown primarily to the base effect. He cautions, however, that the stability in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from August 2023 to the present means that starting in August, the country may experience the full impact of monthly price changes.