October 2026 inflation rises to 5.5% indicating third consecutive increase
Ghana’s year-on-year inflation rate has increased to 5.5% in October 2026, from 5.2% in September, marking the third consecutive monthly rise since July.
Government Statistician, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, says non-food inflation remains a major driver of the increase, accounting for about 76 % of the overall inflation rate, compared with 2.8% for food inflation.
Presenting the October 2026 Consumer Price Index and Inflation Report, he explained that the increase was largely influenced by rising prices in the services sector.
“In very simple language, of every one Ghana cedi price rise in October 2026, about 76 pesewas came from non-food items, and 24 pesewas came from food,” he said.
Food inflation, however, eased to 2.8% in October from 4% in September and 9.5% in October 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, food prices declined by 2%, contributing to an overall 0.1% reduction in prices between September and October.
Services inflation, on the other hand, rose sharply to 11.5% from 8.3% in September, while goods inflation declined to 3.8% from 4.2%.
Dr. Iddrisu said services were now experiencing price increases at a significantly faster pace than goods.
“Services are now rising about three times as fast as goods,” he noted.
Transport recorded the highest inflation among the 13 expenditure divisions, rising to 14.1% in October from 5.7% in September. Transport prices also increased by 8% within the month.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels recorded inflation of 10.5%, making the division the single largest contributor to October's inflation, accounting for 24.4%.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 24.3%, while transport accounted for 22.5%. Together, the three divisions represented about 70% of the national inflation rate.
“Just these three divisions out of the 13 divisions contributed about 70% to October 2026 inflation,” the Government Statistician explained.
He also highlighted the difference between locally produced and imported items, with locally produced items recording inflation of 6.9%, compared with 2.4% for imported items.
Locally produced items accounted for 86.4% of October's inflation, underscoring their significant influence on domestic price movements.
On regional inflation, Ashanti recorded the highest rate of 9.7%, followed by Eastern at 7.8%, Ahafo at 6.8% and Central at 6.2%.
The Northern Region recorded the lowest inflation rate at negative 0.5%, indicating that average prices were lower than they were a year earlier.
Dr. Iddrisu said the figures demonstrate how inflationary pressures differ across the country.
“Where you live actually changes what you pay. In other words, inflation is not the same everywhere in Ghana,” he said.
At the commodity level, fresh tomatoes recorded the highest year-on-year price increase of 119.3%, followed by shrimps at 88.8% and ginger at 88.2%.
Other significant increases were recorded in parking space and related services at 47.2% and mangoes at 45.3%.
In contrast, prices of some food staples declined, with guinea corn falling by 28%, maize by 27.2%, foreign apples by 24.5% and lime by 23.7%.
The Government Statistician said the inflation data should guide households, businesses and policymakers in making informed decisions, particularly in managing household expenditure, reviewing business costs and directing support to areas experiencing higher price increases.
He further noted that the October inflation rate of 5.5% was below the Bank of Ghana's medium-term inflation target of 8% plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Dr. Iddrisu urged stakeholders to rely on the Ghana Statistical Service's disaggregated inflation data to understand price movements across sectors and regions and support evidence-based decision-making.
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