April producer price inflation drops to 18.5%
By Juliet ETEFE (Juliet.etefe@ Nsemkeka.com)
The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures average changes in prices domestic producers receive for their goods and services, showed continued signs of easing in April 2025.
According to latest data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), year-on-year producer inflation declined sharply to 18.5 percent in April – down from 24.4 percent in March 2025.
This represents a 5.9 percentage point drop and marks a third consecutive monthly decline in the annual rate.
The development suggests a slowing in the pace at which prices are rising at the factory gate, a potentially positive sign for both consumers and macroeconomic stability.
On a month-on-month basis, producer prices declined by 0.8 percent between March and April, indicating deflation at the producer level. This implies that producers, on average, received slightly lower prices for their outputs in April than the previous month.
Sectoral trends
The industrial sector – excluding construction – saw a year-on-year inflation of 20.8 percent, while construction recorded 13.9 percent and the services sector posted the lowest at 5.9 percent.
For month-on-month, the industrial sector experienced 1.1 percent deflation while services recorded a modest increase of 0.9 percent. The construction sector registered a marginal month-on-month decline of 0.2 percent.
The two largest contributors to April’s producer inflation were mining and quarrying (10.6 percentage points) and manufacturing (6.9 percentage points), jointly accounting for over 94 percent of the total PPI.
Sub-sector dynamics
Within mining and quarrying, mining support service activities topped the inflation chart with 66 percent, followed by the mining of metal ores at 56.0 percent. In contrast, the extraction of crude oil and natural gas saw a deflationary trend with -12.6 percent.
In the manufacturing sub-sector, notable inflation rates were recorded in the manufacture of basic metals (38 percent), motor vehicles (35.8 percent) and leather products (32.5 percent). However, some categories such as coke and refined petroleum products recorded a negative inflation rate of -1.6 percent.
The electricity and gas sector recorded year-on-year inflation of 5.3 percent, while water supply, sewerage and waste management stood at 4.8 percent. Among services, transportation and storage registered 16.2 percent inflation, accommodation and food service activities came in at 20.6 percent while information and communication had the lowest at 3.4 percent.
Implications for economy
Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu noted that while the slowing inflation provides an opportunity for price stability, it also calls for strategic actions by stakeholders.
“The April 2025 slowdown in producer price inflation is mainly driven by easing pressures in mining and manufacturing, which are key to Ghana’s industrial growth. This presents a window for stabilisation, investment and responsible spending,” he stated during the press briefing.
He added that with inflation pressures showing signs of subsiding, the overall economic outlook appears cautiously optimistic.
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