The Producer Price Inflation (PPI) increased to 29.3 percent in March 2022, from the 21.4 percent recorded in February.
This represents an increase of 7.9 percentage points.
The PPI measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services.
The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, who announced this yestersday, noted that the February PPI was driven by increases in the mining and quarrying, and the manufacturing sub-sectors.
The PPI in the mining and quarrying sub-sector increased by 19.8 percentage points over the February 2022 rate of 13.8 per cent to 33.6 per cent in March 2022.
That of the manufacturing sub-sector, which constitutes more than two-thirds of the total industry, increased by 7.2 percentage points to 36 percent.
The utility sub-sector recorded the lowest PPI rate of 1.1 percent for March 2022.
PPI trends
In March 2021, the producer price inflation rate for all industry was 13 percent.
The rate decreased to a record 10.9 percent in April 2021 but increased to 11.8 percent in May 2021.
The rate decreased continuously to a record 8.1 percent in August 2021.
Subsequently, the rate resumes an upward trend to increase continuously to a record 29.3 percent in March 2022.
Manufacturing Sector
In March 2022, two out of the 16 major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 36 percent.
Manufacture of carbonated drinks, and refined petroleum products recorded the highest inflation rate of 67.4 percent, while the publishing, printing and reproduction of recorded media posted the least inflation rate of 2.6 percent.
Petroleum Price Index
The producer inflation rate in the petroleum sub-sector was 31 percent in March 2021.
The rate decreased to 28 percent in April 2021 and subsequently fluctuated to 25.3 percent in August 2021.
Thereafter, it increased continuously to 58.4 percent in November 2021 but dropped to 35 percent in January 2022.
In February 2022, the rate increased to 44.3 percent and inched up to 67.4 per cent in March 2022.
Source: Graphic Online
