Chamwe Kaira
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) said the annual inflation rate stood at 3.2% in August compared to 4.4% recorded in August 2024. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.0%, down from 0.1% in July.
Zonal data showed Zone 1, which includes Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa and Zambezi, recorded the highest rate at 3.6%. Zone 3, covering ||Kharas, Erongo, Hardap and Omaheke regions, recorded 3.2%, while Zone 2, the Khomas region, recorded 2.9%.
The NSA said Zone 2 consumers paid the highest price for apples at N$41.42 per kilogram, followed by Zone 3 at N$38.66, while Zone 1 paid the lowest at N$33.55. For white bread flour (2.5 kg), Zone 2 recorded the highest price at N$54.93, Zone 1 paid N$50.99, and Zone 3 the lowest at N$49.58.
“The core inflation stood at 3.6%, slightly higher than the headline inflation rate of 3.2%. The term ‘core inflation’ describes a measure of inflation that excludes certain volatile elements from the overall inflation calculation. These volatile elements typically include food and energy (excluding gas, paraffin, methylated spirits and coal/charcoal) prices, which tend to experience significant price fluctuations due to factors such as weather conditions, geopolitical events, or changes in supply and demand,” the NSA said.
The main contributors to the 3.2% annual inflation rate were food and non-alcoholic beverages, which added 1 percentage point, followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco, which each contributed 0.8 percentage points.
The highest changes in annual inflation were recorded in alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 5.5%, food and non-alcoholic beverages at 5.2%, education at 4.3%, hotels, cafés and restaurants at 3.8%, and recreation and culture at 3.8%.
Inflation in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels was 3.4% in August compared to 4.1% a year earlier.
Prices for milk, cheese and eggs rose by 1.5% in August compared to 5.2% in August 2024. Cheese dropped from 10.5% to 0.2%, baby powdered milk from 8.3% to -1.9%, preserved milk from 9.8% to 0.0%, cream from 6.1% to -2.2%, and fresh and long-life milk from 6.4% to -0.4%.
