January Inflation Rate stands at 15.13%

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation started the year 2018 increasing by 15.13 percent (year-on-year) in January 2018. This was 0.24 percent points lower than the rate recorded in December (15.37 percent) making it the twelfth consecutive disinflation (slowdown in the inflation rate though still positive) in headline year on year inflation since January 2017.
Increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yield the Headline Index. On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 0.80 percent in January 2018, 0.21 percent points higher from the rate of 0.59 percent recorded in December 2017.
The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve-month period ending January 2018 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 16.22 percent, showing 0.28 percent point lower from 16.50 percent recorded in December 2017.
The Urban inflation rate rose by 15.56 percent (year-on-year) in January 2018 from 16.78 percent recorded in December 2017, while the Rural inflation rate also eased by 14.76 percent in January 2018 from 15.02 percent in December 2017.
On month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 0.83 percent in January 2018, up by 0.17 from 0.66 percent recorded in December 2017, while the rural index also rose by 0.77 percent in January 2018, up by 0.23 when compared with 0.54 percent in December 2017.
The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 16.55 percent in January 2018. This is less than 16.92 percent reported in December 2017, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in January 2018 is 15.89 percent compared to 16.10 percent recorded in
December 2017.