Recent report published by the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation in the month of October 2021 dropped to 15.99% from 16.63% recorded in September 2021.
Year-on-year, this is 1.76 percent points higher than the rate recorded in October 2020 (14.23%)
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 0.98 percent in October 2021, this is 0.17 percent rate lower than the rate recorded in September 2021.
The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending October 2021 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 16.96 percent, showing 0.13 percent point from 16.83 percent recorded in September 2021.
The urban inflation rate increased by 16.52 percent (year-on-year) in October 2021 from 14.81 percent recorded in October 2020, while the rural inflation rate increased by 15.48 percent in October 2021 from 13.68 percent in October 2020.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.02 percent in October 2021, down by 0.19 percentage point the rate recorded in September 2021 (1.21) percent, while the rural index also rose by 0.95 percent in October 2021, down by 0.15 percentage point the rate that was recorded in September 2021 (1.10) percent.
The twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 17.53 percent in October 2021. This is higher than 17.41 percent reported in September 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in October 2021 is 16.39 percent compared to 16.26 percent recorded in September 2021.