Martin Endjala
According to the Namibia Consumer Price Index released this week by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), Namibia’s inflation rate currently stands at 3.0%, recorded during the month of October.
The core inflation rate stood at 4.0% while the headline inflation rate was at 3.0%, compared to 6.0% registered in October 2023.
On a monthly basis, the inflation rate witnessed an increase of 0.4% compared to a deflation of 0.2% recorded a month ago.
Core inflation refers to a measure of inflation that excludes certain volatile elements from the overall inflation calculation.
These volatile elements, according to NSA chief executive officer and statistician-general Alex Shimuafeni, typically include food and energy prices, which tend to experience significant price swings due to factors such as weather conditions, geopolitical events, or changes in supply and demand.
“The inflation rate measures the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month under review compared to the previous month (month-on-month changes) as well as to the corresponding month in the previous year,” he explained.
He added that the inflation rate is crucial for economic policymaking, particularly when conducting monetary policy to maintain price stability and control consumer spending.
The Consumer Price Index is published about 15 days after the end of the reference month to which it relates.
According to the report, the zonal inflation rates for October showed that Zone 2 (Khomas region) recorded the highest rate of 4.2%, while Zone 1 (Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, and Zambezi regions) recorded the lowest rate.
While Zone 3 (||Kharas, Erongo, Hardap, and Omaheke regions) each recorded an annual inflation rate of 2.3%.
The analysis of the average retail prices of selected products for the month under review shows that consumers in Zone 1 paid the highest price for petrol per litre at N$20.93, followed by consumers in Zone 3 at N$20.89, while consumers in Zone 2 paid the lowest price of N$20.74.
In addition, consumers in Zone 2 paid the highest price for pure sunflower per 750 ml at N$31.30, followed by consumers in Zone 3 at N$30.89, while consumers in Zone 1 paid the lowest price of N$30.62.
Furthermore, the main contributors to the annual inflation rate of 3.0% in October were housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels’ contributing 1.1 percentage points, followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages’ contributing 1.0 percentage points, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco, which added 0.7 percentage points.
The housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel components account for 28.4% of the consumer basket.
The annual inflation rate for this category recorded an increase of 4.4% in October 2024, compared to an increase of 3.3% in October 2023.
On a monthly basis, the inflation rate registered an increase of 1.0 percent, compared to a deflation of 0.1% observed during the previous month.
The annual inflation rate for goods was estimated at 2.5%, while the annual inflation rate for services stood at 3.8%.