The year on year inflation rate as measured by all items Consumer Price Index – CPI for January 2020 has increased to 12.5 percent, up from 11.7 percent recorded in December 2019, with Southern Province recording the highest rate of annual inflation at 15.5 percent followed by Lusaka at 13.3 percent.
The increase in inflation rate means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 12.5 percent between January 2019 and January 2020. The Zambia Statistics Agency – Zamstats has disclosed that the increase in the annual rate of inflation was mainly attributed to price increase in both Food and Non-food items.
Addressing the media in Lusaka on January 30, 2020, attended by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, the Agency’s Interim Statistician General Mulenga Musepa explained that the year on year food inflation rate for January 2020 was recorded at 15.4 percent compared to 15.2 percent recorded in December 2019 attributing the development to price movement of food items such as Bukabuka, Dried bream, Dried Kapenta Mpulungu, Cooking oil and Fruits such as Oranges, Pineapples and Pawpaw.
Mulenga added that the year on year non-food inflation rate for January 2020 was recorded at 9.4 percent compared to 7.8 percent recorded in December 2019, indicating an increase of 1.6 percentage point.
This increase was mainly attributed to items such as electricity, diesel, and petrol. Meanwhile, at provincial level, Southern Province recorded the highest rate of annual inflation at 15.5 percent followed by Lusaka at 13.3 percent. The southern parts of the country has continued to receive relatively less rainfall compared to other provinces in Zambia, which are now benefiting from seasonal and early maturing crop harvest.
A disaggregation of the annual inflation rate by provinces shows that the annual inflation rate for January 2020 increased for Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Northern and North Western provinces. Western province recorded the lowest annual rate of inflation at 9.5 percent.
