Cost of living increases as September inflation comes in at 11.24%

The consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation increased by 11.24 percent year-on-year  (YoY) in September 2019.

Cost of items also increased by 0.22 per cent points as at the end of Q3’19 from the 11.02 per cent recorded in August this year.

An increase in the all item index indicates higher cost of leaving at a point in time in comparison with a marked period in the past.

Increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP)  divisions that yielded the headline index.

On month-on-month (MoM) basis, the headline index increased by 1.04 per cent in September, this is 0.05 percent rate higher than the rate recorded in August’s  0.99 per cent, according to the latest statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

According to  the NBS report, percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending September 2019 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 11.268 per cent, showing 0.003 percent point from 11.271 per cent recorded in August this year.

The urban inflation rate increased by 11.78 per cent in September this year from 11.48 per cent recorded from the comparative period of  2019, while the rural inflation rate increased by 10.77 per cent this time aroundm 10.61 per cent posted in the previous month.

“On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.13 per cent in September 2019, up by 0.09 from 1.04 per cent recorded in August 2019, while the rural index also rose by 0.96  percent in September 2019, up by 0.03 from the rate  recorded in August 2019 (0.93) per cent.”

The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 11.63 per cent in September, the report further reads.

This is higher than 11.62 per cent reported in August 2019, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in September 2019 is 10.94 per cent compared to 10.95 per cent recorded in August this year.

Meanwhile, the composite food index rose by 13.51 per cent in September 2019 compared to 13.17 per cent in August same year.

This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, oils and fats, meat, potatoes, yam and other tubers; Fish and vegetables.

On monthly basis, the food sub-index increased by 1.30 per cent in September, up by 0.08 per cent points from 1.22 per cent recorded in August.

The average annual rate of change of the food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending September 2019 over the previous twelve-month average was 13.47 per cent, 0.01  per cent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2019 which stood at 13.46 per cent.