Provisional figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicate that the producer price inflation (PPI) rate for August 2015 was 4.4 percent.
This rate indicates that between August 2015 and August 2015, the PPI increased by 4.4 percent, representing a 5.8 percentage point decrease in producer inflation, relative to the rate recorded in July 2015 which was 10.2 percent.
The month-on-month change in the producer price index between July and August 2015 was -3.4.
In the mining and quarrying sub-sector, the producer price inflation increased slightly by 0.2 percentage point over the July 2015 rate of 1.5 percent, to record 1.7 percent in August 2015.
Manufacturing, which constitutes more than two-thirds of total industry decreased by 8.8 percentage points to record 4.1 percent.
On the utilities sub-sector, an inflation rate of 8.4 percent was recorded in August 2015, indicating an increase of 1.1 percentage point over the July 2015 rate of 7.3 percent.
On major trends, the year-on-year inflation in ex-factory prices of goods and services was 4.4 percent for August 2015.
From September 2014, the producer price inflation rate consistently declined to record 1.2 percent in March 2015.
It inched up to record 1.5 percent in April 2015, and then declined to 18.8 percent in May 2015.
It however, increased again in June 2015 to record 23.1 percent. The rate declined to 10.2 percent in July 2015 and subsequently declined to 4.4 percent in August 2015.
During the month of August 2015, twelve out of the sixteen major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 4.1 percent.
Manufacture of paper and paper products recorded the highest inflation rate of 48.7 percent, while the manufacture of coke, refined petroleum and nuclear recorded the lowest producer price inflation.
The inflation rate in the petroleum sub-sector was 68.6 percent in August 2014 and thereafter fluctuated until November 2014 when it recorded a rate of 61.1 percent.
Subsequently, the rate steadily declined to record -8.7 percent in March 2015 and -9.6 percent in May 2015 as a result of the increased of the base drift effect and the decrease in ex-refinery prices of petroleum products.
The rate however, increase in June 2015 to record -0.01 percent as a result of the increase in petroleum prices but decreased to -6.4 percent in July 2015 due to the base drift effect.
In August 2015, the rate declined to -28.0 percent due to the decrease in prices of petroleum products.
