Tanzania inflation drops to 3pc in November

NBS General Director Albina Chuwa. Photo|File

What you need to know:

  • Tanzania inflation has decreased further to 3.0 per cent in November 2018 compared to 3.2 per cent recorded in October, the National Bureau of Statistics data shows.
  • Food and non-alcoholic beverages, which account for the largest share in the basked of items used to calculate the inflation contributed to the downward movement.

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s annual inflation dropped further to 3.0 per cent in November 2018 from 3.2 per cent recorded in October amid slowing price increase speed, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The decrease in inflation means that the change of prices of commodities for the year, which ended in November, 2018, has fallen significantly when compared to the year, which ended October, 2018.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation decreased from 1.2 per cent to 0.4 per cent during the period under review.

According to the NBS, food and non-alcoholic beverages are dominant factors in measuring inflation in Tanzania.

They account for 38.5 per cent of the basket of goods upon which the inflation is measured.

The annual inflation rate for food consumed at home and away from home also decreased to 2.0 per cent in November from 2.5 per cent recorded in October.

However, the 12 month index change for non-food products increased to 5.3 per cent from 5.0 per cent.

The annual inflation rate, which excludes food and energy for the month of November, increased to 2.6 per cent from 2.3 per cent that was recorded in October.

The monthly Consumer Price Index also increased by 0.3 per cent compared to a decrease of 0.3 per cent recorded in October from September.

Some non-food items that contributed to such increase include (with their percentages in brackets); kerosene (0.2), charcoal (0.2), firewood (0.5), diesel (9.7) and petrol (1.5).