Overall Monthly Inflation Rate at 0.9 Percent

The overall monthly inflation July 2023 was recorded at 0.9 percent compared with 0.8 percent recorded in the previous month. This outturn was mainly attributed to price increases selected in Food items (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Overall Monthly Inflation, July 2022-July 2023

Monthly Inflation Rates for Food and Non-Food Items

Monthly food inflation for July 2023 was recorded at 1.0 percent compared with 0.9 percent recorded in June 2023. This development was mainly attributed to general price movements for Bread and Cereals (Breakfast Mealie Meal, Roller Mealie Meal, Maize grain) Meats (Brisket, Mixed

Cut, T-bone, Beef Sausages, Pork Chops, Chicken Frozen and Chicken Live); Vegetables (Rape, Pumpkin Leaves, Sweet Potato Leaves (Kalembula)-With sterms, Lumanda, Spinach and Cassava Leaves .)

Monthly non-food inflation for July 2023 remained the same at 0.7 percent. This outturn was mainly attributed to increases in prices of items such as Purchase of motor vehicles (Toyota corolla, Nissan Pick (Nissan Hardbody), Pharmaceuticals Products (Aspirin, Medix cough syrup, No cough, Andrews liver salt, Magnesium Trisilicate, Asthma Cure (Salbutamol), Cafenol, Ampicillin Medix cough syrup, No Throat lozenges ) and Petrol (see Table 5).

Table 5: Overall Monthly Inflation Rate for Food and Non-Food Items, July 2022-July 2023 (%)

	Weight:	Jul- 2022	Aug- 2022	Sep- 2022	Oct- 2022	Nov- 2022	Dec- 2022	Jan – 2023	Feb – 2023	Mar – 2023	Apr – 2023	May – 2023	Jun – 2023	July – 2023
Total	1,000.00	0.4	0.3	-0.4	0.2	0.7	0.8	2.1	1.9	1.0	0.9	0.6	0.8	0.9
Food	534.85	0.3	0.4	-0.2	0.4	0.9	0.5	2.8	2.0	1.1	0.9	0.9	0.9	1.0
Non- Food	465.15	0.7	0.1	-0.6	-0.2	0.5	1.1	1.1	1.9	0.9	1.0	0.2	0.7	0.7

The Consumer Price Basket consists of 440 items which are spread across selected outlets in all the 116 districts of Zambia. Over 23,000 price quotations are collected from these outlets between the 1^st and 10^th of every month. The minimum and maximum prices for selected products by district are highlighted in Table 6.

Table 6: District Prices for Selected Products, July 2023

Product Description	Unit of Measure	Price (K)	Minimum	Price (K)	Maximum
Product Description	Unit of Measure	Price (K)	Location	Price (K)	Location
Breakfast Mealie Meal	25 kg	165.00	Central	282.00	Milengi
Roller Mealie Meal	25 kg	135.00	Monze	240.00	Chiengi
Maize Grain	20 litre tin	75.00	Luangwa	160.00	Chama
Cooking Oil	2.5 Litres	130.00	Kabwe	155.00	Chadiza
Eggs	Tray	53.00	Mumbwa	90.00	Serenje
Sugar	2 Kg	42.00	Kaoma	59.00	Lusaka
Charcoal	50 kg bag	50.00	Chama	280.00	Lusaka
Cement	50 kg	132.00	Lusaka	175.00	Sesheke