The Statistics Division under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for December 2024.

Year-on-Year Analysis

The All Items CPI increased by 5.4% over the twelve months ending in December 2024, down from 6.4% in November. The All Items Less Food and Energy index, also referred to as core inflation, rose 5.2% over the same period.

The Food Index recorded a 4.5% increase over the twelve-month period, with the Vegetables index making a notable contribution. It rose 8.9%, accounting for nearly half (46.5%) of the total food price increase. Two sub-categories drove 98.2% of this increase:

• Fresh and Chilled Vegetables: +18.8%
• Frozen, Preserved, or Processed Vegetables and Vegetable-based Products: +4.0%

Six of the nine food sub-categories contributed 53.4% of the total Food Index increase:

• Bread and Cereals: +10.2%
• Milk, Cheese, and Eggs: +10.1%
• Meats and Meat Products: +9.7%
• Fruits: +8.8%
• Food Products N.E.C.: +7.9%
• Fish and Seafood: +6.6%

The increase in the All Items Less Food and Energy index was primarily influenced by the following categories:

• Miscellaneous Goods and Services: +21.8%
• Restaurants and Hotels: +20.9%
• Communication: +11.9%
• Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics: +10.9%

Month-to-Month Price Changes (December 2024)

The overall CPI declined by 0.8% in December, following a 1.5% increase in November.

The largest contributing factor was a 4.3% decline in the Transportation index, driven by a significant drop in Airline Fares, which fell by 15.4%, contributing to a 12.6% decrease in the Transport Services index.

The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages index decreased 0.8%, with the Food index falling 0.9%. Declines were noted in eight of the nine food groups. Five groups had decreases exceeding one percent:

• Food Products N.E.C.: -2.2%
• Fish and Seafood: -2.0%
• Milk, Cheese, and Eggs: -1.7%
• Oils and Fats: -1.4%
• Sugar, Jam, Honey, Chocolate, and Confectionery: -1.2%

The All Items Less Food and Energy index also declined by 0.9%. Decreases were noted in:

• Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco: -0.8%
• Actual Rentals for Housing: -0.3%

Other indexes were unchanged, except:

• Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance: +0.3%
• Miscellaneous Goods and Services: +0.1%

About the CPI The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures average price changes over time for goods and services consumed by households. Prices are collected monthly and quarterly across various sectors, based on expenditure patterns from a household budget survey conducted in 2006.

The full December 2024 CPI report is available at www.statistics.gov.ag.