ZamStats October 13, 2020

Zambia’s Annual Inflation Rate for September 2020 increases to 15.7 Percent

The year- on- year (Annual) inflation rate as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September 2020 increased to 15.7 percent from 15.5 percent recorded in August 2020 This means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 15.7 percent between September 2019 and September 2020.

The increase in the annual rate of inflation was attributed to price increases in non-food items

The year- to- date inflation was recorded at 11.2 percent in August 2020 higher than that of the corresponding period in 2019 of 7.9 percent. This means that, the average prices of goods and services increased at a higher rate in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019

The year-on-year food inflation rate for September 2020 was recorded at 14.0 percent compared to 15.5 percent recorded in August 2020, indicating a decrease of 1.5 percentage points. This development was mainly attributed to reductions in prices of food items such as cereals (Breakfast mealie meal, Roller mealie meal, Maize grain, Millet, Sorghum).

Annual inflation rate by province in September 2020 increased for Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Northern Southern and Western provinces. Annual inflation decreased for Central, Lusaka and North-western provinces.Provincial changes in annual inflation show that between September 2019 and September 2020, Northern Province had the highest rate of annual inflation at 19.6 percent, followed by Western at 17.3 percent. Eastern province recorded the lowest annual rate of inflation at 13.2 percent

Analysis on a monthly basis, of retail prices between August 2020 and September 2020 shows that the national average price of a 25 kg bag of Breakfast Mealie meal decreased by 0.21 percent from K127.81 to K127.54 while the national average price of a 25 kg bag of Roller Mealie meal decreased by 0.89 percent from  K98.74 to K97.86. The national average price of a 20 litre tin of maize grain increased by 0.75 percent from K51.95 to K52.34