By:Justicia Shipena
Namibians had to spend more money on veggies in August since prices rose by 16.9%, according to the Namibia Consumer Price Index data published by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).
The country’s annual inflation rate for August was 4.7%, down from 7.3% in August 2022.
According to NSA Statistician-General & CEO Alex Shimuafeni, food and non-alcoholic drinks were the largest contributors to the annual inflation rate in August 2023.
“On average, vegetable prices increased by 16.9% in August 2023 compared to 7.2% recorded a year ago,” Shimuafeni said.
The yearly inflation rate for vegetables increased mostly in cabbage, spinach, onions, beets, broccoli and cauliflower.
Meanwhile, in August 2023, fish varieties were 16.2% more costly.
This was most noticeable in fresh, chilled, and frozen fish, as well as dried, smoked, salted, and salted fish and seafood.
During the review period, food goods had annual inflation of 11.0% in August 2023, compared to 6.3% in the same time in 2022.
“The increases were reflected mainly in the prices of spices and condiments, ready-made frozen food, mayonnaise/mustard/salad dressings and vinegar,”the CPI indicated.
Bread and cereals account for the most weight of food items purchased by consumers, accounting for (4.8%), followed by meat (3.5%), sugar, jam, honey, syrups, chocolate, and confectionery (1.4%), vegetables, and milk, cheese, and eggs (1.2%) each.
According to the report, food and non-alcoholic drinks had annual inflation of 10.0% in August 2023, compared to 8.8% during the same month in 2022.
The CPI report revealed that the monthly inflation rate for this category was 0.3% in August 2023, up from -0.2% in July.
Meat prices increased by 8.4% in August 2023, compared to 5.2% in the same month last year.
“Bacon recorded the highest change from-1.1% to 23.2%, pork from 1.9% to 23.5% and ham from 3.4% to 23.8%.”
Furthermore, the monthly inflation rate for the analysed period was 0.4%, compared to the 0.3% seen in July.
Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels component, which accounts for 28.4% of the consumer basket, increased by 2.8% in August 2023.
The increase in this category’s annual inflation was mostly represented in the subgroups of electricity, gas, and other fuels, which recorded 6.7% compared to 3.9% in August 2022, and rental payments for housing, which registered 2.1% compared to 1.4% in August 2022.
