Ghana’s inflation rate has increased from 20.4% in August 2024 to 21.5% in September 2024, according to the Ghana Statistical Service. This marks the first rise in six months in the rate at which prices for goods and services are climbing.

Since March 2024, when inflation peaked at 25.8%, the rate had shown a steady decline, dropping by approximately 4.3% over the past six months. This consistent downward trend prompted the Central Bank to reduce policy rates by 200 basis points last week—the first cut in two years—bringing the rate down to 27%.

This decline had reassured the government and raised hopes of meeting the year-end inflation target of 13% to 17%. However, the latest figures indicate that between September 2023 and September 2024, average prices for goods and services surged by 21.5%, a significant blow to these optimistic expectations.

The Statistical Service also reported that between August and September 2024, prices of goods increased by approximately 2.8%. This marks a sharp reversal from a 0.7% reduction in the previous month.

The spike in inflation was largely driven by food inflation, which recorded a month-on-month increase of 4.2% and saw year-on-year inflation rise from 19.1% to 22.1%. In contrast, non-food inflation decreased from 21.5% in August to 20.9%.