By:Nghiinomenwa-vali Erastus
Meat lovers should prepare to dig deeper into their wallets as the prices of meat products, including fish, has soared.
Prices for overall goods and services increased at a rate of 0.3% during the the month of July to 0.1% witnessed during the previous months.
This is according to the Namibia Statistics Agency’s (NSA) monthly statistics for July 2023.
One of the meat products regarded as affordable is fish, however, according to the inflation statistics, fish was 12.6% more expensive in July 2023 compared to 6.8% obtained in July 2022.
Fish were 12.6% more expensive in July 2023 compared to 6.8% obtained in July 2022.
The largest rise was reflected in dried, smoked, and salted fish and seafood (from -2.4% to 12.8%); bottled/tinned fish from 1.3% to 8.7%.
The largest rise was reflected in dried, smoked, salted fish and sea food from -2.4% to 12.8%; bottled/Tinned fish from 1.3% to 8.7% and Fresh, chilled and frozen fish from 10.0% to 13.4%.
The inflation rate for meat stood at 9.2% during July 2023 compared to 3.7% recorded during the same period a year earlier.
Pork recorded the highest change in pricesfrom 0.6% to 21.1%, followed by bacon from 1.7% to 21.3%, ham from 2.6% to 20.7%, sausages from 0.3% to 15.2%, and chicken, birds subcategory from 5.2% to 15.3%.
The annual inflation rate stood at 4.5% in July 2023, where food and non-alcoholic beverages are the main contributors (2.0 percentage points); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.9 percentage points).
Food and non-alcoholic beverages, which accounts for 16.5% of the consumer basket, registered an annual inflation rate of 10.5% during July 2023, compared to 8.4% obtained during July 2022.
The food sub-category accounts for 14.8% of the consumer basket in the NCPI. Within the food subcomponent,
Bread and cereals account for the highest weight of food items that consumers purchase, having a weight of 4.8%, followed by meat (3.5%); sugar, jam, honey, syrups, chocolate, and confectionery (1.4%);
Vegetable inflation increased by 18.1% in July 2023 compared to 6.6% recorded a year ago.
The increase in the annual inflation rate for this subcategory was mainly observed in cabbage from -26.7% to 54.3%, and spinach from -37.0% to 9.0%.
Beetroot prices increased at the rate of 30.5%, onions from 7.2% to 45.7%, and broccoli, cauliflower from 2.8% to 36.6%.
Analysis of the average retail prices of selected products for July 2023 revealed that consumers in Zone 2 paid the highest price for an egg pack of six at N$22.13, followed by Zone 3 at N$21.29, while consumers in Zone 1 paid the lowest price of N$19.83.
For pure sunflower (750ml), consumers in Zone 1 paid the lowest price at N$32.18 while the highest price was paid by consumers residing in Zone 2 at N$34.90. Email: erastus@thevillager.com.na
