Annual inflation rate slows in April

WINDHOEK, 15 MAY  – The annual inflation rate slowed down to 3,7 per cent in April 2018 from 6,7 per cent registered during the same period last year, according to the Namibia Consumer Price Index (NCPI) released on Tuesday.

The NCPI, issued by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), posited that the slowdown in annual inflation resulted from price levels of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, in the total inflation basket decreasing from 9,4 per cent in April 2017 to 3,4 per cent in April 2018.

This also included furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance which decreased from 5,8 per cent in April 2017 to 1,1 per cent in April 2018.
On a monthly basis, the inflation rate increased to 0,3 per cent as compared to 0,1 per cent registered in the previous month (March).
Inflation is calculated based on a basket of goods and services, which contain a representative sample of the goods and or services commonly consumed in a country. These are weighted in accordance with the relative percentage of expenditure selected to each of the said goods at household level.
The price of these goods and services are then tracked over time to illustrate the change in the cost of living over time.

Namibia’s inflation, however, is largely determined by three categories of the overall NCPI basket: housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; food and non-alcoholic beverages; as well as transport, which cumulatively make up just under 60 per cent of the total inflation basket.
NAMPA