Ghana's inflation edges up to 3.4% in April as non-food prices accelerate
Ghana's headline inflation rate rose marginally to 3.4 per cent in April 2026, up from 3.2 per cent in March, as rising non-food prices offset continued moderation in food inflation, according to new data released by the Ghana Statistical Service.
The month-on-month inflation rate accelerated sharply to 1.0 per cent from just 0.1 per cent in March, signalling that price pressures built considerably more rapidly during April than in the previous month.
The divergence between food and non-food inflation widened further. Food inflation continued its downward trajectory, easing to 2.2 per cent in April from 2.3 per cent in March, offering some relief to households who have seen grocery bills stabilise over the past year. Non-food inflation, however, climbed to 4.2 per cent from 3.9 per cent, driven by rising costs in housing, transport, recreation and household services.
On a month-on-month basis, the contrast was even starker. Food prices rose just 0.8 per cent in April compared with a 0.3 per cent decline in March – a swing of 1.1 percentage points. Non-food prices jumped 1.1 per cent month-on-month, up from a 0.3 per cent increase in March, reflecting a notable acceleration in the cost of goods and services outside the grocery basket.
The data also revealed a sharp divergence between locally produced and imported items. Locally produced items saw year-on-year inflation ease to 4.7 per cent in April from 4.9 per cent in March, a modest improvement. But imported items recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 0.7 per cent, up from 0.5 per cent, suggesting that global price pressures and exchange rate movements may be beginning to feed through to consumer prices after a prolonged period of stability.
The month-on-month picture for imported items was particularly striking. Imported goods surged 1.5 per cent in April after falling 0.2 per cent in March, a swing of 1.7 percentage points. Locally produced items rose 0.7 per cent month-on-month, up from 0.5 per cent. The acceleration in imported inflation is likely to attract close attention from the monetary policy committee, which has been counting on exchange rate stability to keep a lid on imported price pressures.
The goods versus services breakdown added another layer to the story. Goods inflation rose to 1.1 per cent year-on-year in April from minus 1.0 per cent in March – a dramatic swing that reflects base effects from a year ago. Services inflation, however, remained elevated at 9.6 per cent, up from 7.2 per cent in March, underscoring that the cost of services such as education, healthcare, transport and hospitality continues to rise much faster than the cost of physical goods.
On a month-on-month basis, goods prices rose 0.4 per cent, unchanged from March, while services prices increased 0.7 per cent, recovering from a 1.0 per cent decline in the previous month.
Regional disparities remained stark. The Savannah Region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate at 9.5 per cent, a remarkable outlier given the national average of 3.4 per cent. The North East Region recorded the lowest inflation at minus 3.5 per cent, meaning prices actually fell on average in that region compared with a year ago.
The spread between the highest and lowest regional inflation rates widened to 13 percentage points, highlighting the uneven nature of price developments across the country.