The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has announced that the inflation rate decreased from 6.8 per cent in July 2022 to 4.5 per cent in July 2023.
In the Namibia Consumer Price Index (NCPI) Bulletin issued on Thursday, it was revealed that during July 2023, the annual inflation rate within the NCPI framework stood at 4.5 per cent, a notable drop from the 6.8 per cent observed in July 2022.
The main drivers behind the annual inflation rate for July 2023 were food and non-alcoholic beverages, which made a significant contribution of 2.0 percentage points. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco contributed 0.9 percentage points, and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels added 0.7 percentage points.
Specifically, the category of food and non-alcoholic beverages, constituting 16.5 per cent of the NCPI basket, registered an annual inflation rate of 10.5 per cent in July 2023, marking an increase from the 8.4 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2022.
“In addition, on a monthly basis, the inflation rate for this category stood at -0.2 per cent in July 2023, in contrast to the 0.0 per cent recorded during the previous month,” it said.
Meanwhile, it was highlighted that the transport category, accounting for 14.3 per cent of the consumer basket, experienced a decline of 2.5 per cent in July 2023, a notable decrease from the 20.9 per cent in July 2022.
“The reduction in the annual inflation rate for this component was primarily influenced by the subcomponent of operation of personal transport equipment, which exhibited a decline of 6.2 per cent compared to the 35.5 per cent increase observed in July 2022,” the bulletin noted.
The data further indicated that on a month-on-month basis, the transport category demonstrated an inflation rate increase of 0.5 per cent in July 2023, contrasting with the deflation of 0.4 per cent recorded in the previous month.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency