October year on year inflation slows to 471,25%

Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S month-on-month inflation rate in October raced to 4,37 percent although the widely used year-on-year inflation slowed to 471,25 percent.

According to the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (Zimstat) the month-on-month inflation rate in October was 4,37 percent gaining 0,54 percentage points on the September rate of 3,83 percent.

“This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average rate of 4,37 percent from September 2020 to October 2020,” Zimstat said.

Price increases were mainly in food and non-alcoholic beverages with month-on-month inflation rate for the category at 3,00 percent in October, gaining 0,92 percentage points on the September rate of 2,08 percent. Month-on-month inflation for bread and cereals was at 3,96.

Prices of spirits and beer also increased at a much faster pace with inflation for the two recorded at 5,69 percent and 8,43 percent respectively.

The month-on-month non-food inflation rate stood at 5,33 percent, gaining 0,25 percentage points on the September rate of 5,08 percent.

Month-on-month inflation for electricity was elevated at 125,14 percent following recent tariff adjustments.

Meanwhile, the year-on-year inflation rate for the month of October as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 471,25 percent.

“This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average of 471,25 percent between October 2019 and October 2020,” according to Zimstat.

The country’s year-on-year inflation reached a peak of 837 percent in July this year but has been trending down since the introduction and stability at the foreign exchange auction trading system.