- Monday November 27th, 2023
- Posted by: inscameroun
- Category:
At the end of October 2023, inflation reached an annual average of 7.7%, mainly as a result of the rise in food prices, which increased by 12.3%.
Compared to the previous month, household final consumption prices recorded an increase of 0.2% in October 2023, similar to the trend observed last month. This price increase was mainly due to an increase of 0.4% in food prices and of 0.2% in the costs of the “housing, water, gas, electricity and other fuels” component. The increase in food prices is explained by several factors, including the increase in prices of vegetables, fruits, milk, cheese and eggs. Fish and seafood prices remained stable. Prices of oils and fats, meats, sugars and confectionery continued to fall, meanwhile the prices of breads and cereals declined. The increase in costs of the “housing, water, gas, electricity and other fuels” component was largely due toincreases in effective rents as well as housing maintenance and repair costs. Compared to the same month in 2022, the general price level increased by 6.8% in October 2023, mainly due to the 10.1% increase in food prices and the 16.5% increase in transport costs. On average over the past twelve months, the inflation rate in October stood at 7.7%, thus exceeding the 3% threshold set by CEMAC. This increase was mainly as a result of the 12.3% rise in food prices, 12.6% rise in transport costs and 8.1% rise in the prices of furniture, household goods and routine maintenance items. Inflation rates remained above 8% in three regional capital cities, with the highest recorded in Bertoua and the lowest observed in Bamenda. The underlying inflation rate1, which excludes the prices of petroleum products, domestic gas and fresh produce in particular, experienced a less sustained increase in October compared to September (+6.4% after +6.6% ). Inflation was not only fuelled by fresh produce and energy products, whose prices increased by 14.7% and 7.1% respectively. By product origin, the increase was more significant for local products whose prices rose by 8.4%, than forimported products, whose prices increased by 5.8%.