Activities in manufacturing subsector increases September PPI to 9.7%

A slow increase in the average prices of goods produced in the manufacturing sub-sector of the economy has caused a marginal increase in the Producer Price Inflation(PPI) for the month of September this year.

The Producer Price Inflation for September 2019 increased to 9.7 percent, showing how the figure increased between September 2018 and September 2019.

The Producer Price Inflation is the average change over time in prices of goods and services quoted at the factory level before it gets to the market.

Explaining the factors that caused the increase in the PPI, Deputy Government Statistician, David Kombat said activities in the manufacturing sub-sector contributed heavily in the period under review.

However, on month-on-month basis, Mr. Kombat stated that “the rate represented a 0.5 percentage point decrease in the producer price inflation relative to the rate recorded in August 2019, which was 10.2 percent”.

Manufacturing sub-sector

Under the manufacturing sub-sector eight out of the 16 major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 4.9 percent.

Manufacture of machinery and equipment recorded the highest inflation rate of 24.7 percent while tanning and dressing of leather products recorded the least rate of 0.0 percent.

Petroleum price index

The producer inflation rate in the petroleum sub-sector was 31.1 percent in September 2018. The rate increased 36.1 percent in September 2018, but decreased sharply to record 3.8 percent in January 2019.

The rate increased consistently to record 17.2 percent in April 2019, but it however decreased again to 1.2 percent in June 2019. Read Full Story