Inflation is the rate at which the value of currency is falling and consequently, the general level of price for goods and services being food or non-food items keeps on increasing. In January 2021, ZamStats reported on annual inflation rate for non-food items which was 16.7 percent, down from 18.1percent in December 2020. The slowdown inflation was mainly attributed to the base effect in household appliances for instance; refrigerator, electric stove, electric iron, electric fan and gas, propane.
However, the monthly inflation rate, for January 2021 was 3.7%, an increase of 0.5 from 3.7% in December 2020. It suffices to mention that the increase in the monthly inflation rate was basically attributed to the general price movements. On 25th March, 2021 ZamStats reported that annual inflation rate measured by the consumer price index increased to 22.8 percent from 22.2 percent in February. This was mainly driven by increase in both food and non-food items where non-food inflation rose to 17.0 percent in March from 16.2percent in the previous month.
The annual inflation for June 2021 increased to 24.6 percent in May, 2021. On average, prices of goods and services increased by 24.6 percent between June 2020 and 2021.The increase in annual rate inflation was mainly attributed to price in some food items. The annual non-food inflation rate for June 2021 was recorded at 17.1 percent same as that record in may 2021.
Consequently, the inflation rate for September, 2021 decreased to 22.1 percent from 24.4 percent recorded in August 2021. This simply means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 22.1 percent between September 2020 and September 2021.
The decrease in the annual rate of inflation was mainly attributed to price movements in both food and non-food items. The non-food inflation rate was down to 13.6% from 16.3% in August 2021. The decrease in inflation rate was mainly attributed to price decreases in purchases of motor vehicles, for instance Toyota Hilux, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Almera 1.5L Acenta and Nissan Hard Body.
Meanwhile, ZamStats reported that, the Communication main group increased by 4.0 percent between September 2020 and September 2021. This was higher than the 1.2 percent in the same month of 2020 and higher than the 3.8 percent recorded in August 2021. The consumer price index for recreation and culture increased by 18.3 percent between September 2020 and September 2021, this was above the 6.9 percent in the same month of 2020 and higher than 15.9 percent recorded in August 2021.
However, the consumer price index for the Clothing and Footwear main group increased by 15.6 percent between September 2020 and September 2021, this was above 9.0 percent in the same month of 2020 and below the 16.1 percent in August 2021. The Health main group increased by 11.4 percent between September 2020 and September 2021, this was lower than the 12.8 percent recorded in the same month of 2020 and the 12.3 percent recorded in August 2021.
The Consumer price index for the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, Other Fuels group increased by 17.8 percent between September 2020 and September 2021 and lower than the 23.5 percent recorded in the same month of 2020 and as well as below the 22.7 percent recorded in August 2021. The Transport main group index increased by 0.7 percent between September 2020 and September 2021, this was lower than 40.1 Percent in the same month of 2020 and 7.3 percent in August 2021.
The index for the Furnishing, Household Equipment and Household Maintenance group increased by 20.3 percent between September 2020 and September 2021, this was higher than the 13.1 percent recorded in the same month of 2021 and as well as below the 21.2 percent recorded in August 2021.
The Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco main group increased by 13.3 percent between September 2020 and September 2021, this was lower than the 10.4 percent in the same month of 2020 and remained the same as in August 2021, the index for the Education main group increased by 5.6 percent between September 2020 and September 2021. This was above the 1.2 percent recorded in the same month of 2020 but was unchanged relative to August 2021.
In view of things, it is clearly seen that economy may be stabilized on the basis of inflation on non-food items and the new government may want to take this into consideration when setting their course for economic improvement.