Annual Inflation to 9.4% in January 2023 from 9.9% in December 2022

Annual inflation for January 2023 slowed down to 9.4 percent from 9.9 percent recorded in December, 2022. This means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 9.4 percent between January 2022 and January 2023 (see Figure 1). This development was mainly attributed to the base effect 1of both food and non-food items.

Figure 1: Annual Inflation Rate, Jan 2022-Jan 2023 (%)

Annual Food and Non-Food Inflation

Annual food inflation for January 2023 was recorded at 11.6 percent compared to 11.9 percent in December 2022 (see Figure 2). This development was mainly attributed to Meat (Beef Sausages, Mince Meat, Pork Chops, Frozen chicken); Milk products (Fresh Milk, Fresh Milk Super Milk, Sour milk, Powdered milk, Cheese) Fruits (Oranges, Lemons, Apples, Avocados, Raisins); Vegetables (Spinach, Chinese Cabbage, Sweet Potato Leaves-Kalembula, Cassava Leaves, Okra, Cucumber, Impwa, Maize cobs, Tomatoes, Carrots, Onion, Mushroom, Dried beans).

The annual non-food inflation for January 2023 was recorded at 6.4 percent from 7.3 percent in December 2022. This outturn was mainly attributed to decreases in prices of non-food items such as Fuels & lubricants (Diesel, Petrol, Lubricants).

1 Base Effect refers to the impact of an increase in the price level (i.e. previous year’s inflation) over the corresponding rise in price levels in the current year (i.e., current inflation)