Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday revealed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation increased by 16.47 percent (year-on-year) in January 2021. This is 0.71 percent points higher than the rate recorded in December 2020 (15.75 percent).
Increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the Headline index.
On month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 1.49 percent in January 2021. This is 0.12 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in December 2020 (1.61 percent).
The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending January 2021 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 13.62 percent, representing a 0.37 percentage point increase over 13.25 percent recorded in December 2020.
The urban inflation rate increased by 17.03 percent (year-on-year) in January 2021 from 16.33 percent recorded in December 2020, while the rural inflation rate increased by 15.92 percent in January 2021 from 15.20 percent in December 2020.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.52 percent in January 2021, down by 0.13 percentage points when compared to the rate recorded in December 2020, while the rural index also rose by 1.46 percent in January 2021, down by 0.12 compared to the rate that was recorded in December 2020 (1.58 percent).
The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index was 14.23 percent in January 2021. This is higher than the 13.86 percent reported in December 2020, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in January 2021 was 13.04 percent compared to 12.67 percent recorded in December 2020.