Price monster still retreating

The inflation rate has eased by 0.3 basis points on a year-on-year basis, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) says.

The headline annual inflation rate for last month stood at 4.4%, the lowest level so far this year.

In August 2023, the rate was 4.7%.

“On a monthly basis, the inflation rate was observed at 0.3% compared to 0.2% witnessed a month ago,” the NSA said.

Across the country, the zonal inflation rates for the month of August revealed that Zone 2 (Khomas Region) recorded the highest rate at 5.4%, while Zone 1 (Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa and Zambezi regions) and Zone 3 (||Karas, Erongo, Hardap and Omaheke regions) recorded annual inflation rates of 3.9%.

“The analysis of the average retail prices of selected products for August 2024 revealed that consumers in Zone 1 paid the highest price for bananas (1 kg) at N$31.56, followed by Zone 3 consumers at N$31.38, while consumers in Zone 2 paid the lowest price at N$29.21," the NSA said.

“Meanwhile, consumers in Zone 3 paid the highest price for pure sunflower oil (750 ml) at N$31.32, followed by Zone 2 consumers at N$30.91, while Zone 1 consumers paid the lowest price at N$30.67,” it added.

In August, the core inflation rate stood at 3.8% while the headline inflation rate was 4.4%. Core inflation refers to a measure of inflation that excludes certain volatile elements from the overall inflation calculation.

“These volatile elements typically include food and energy prices, which tend to experience significant price swings due to factors such as weather conditions, geopolitical events or changes in supply and demand,” the NSA noted.