The rate has cooled to 5.5 per cent but the price index keeps climbing — Prof Godfred Bokpin explained the difference on 3News.

Published 12 Nov 2026, 21:23 GMT

2 min read

Shoppers and traders on the street outside Makola Market in Accra — Shoppers outside Makola Market, Accra (file photo).

Listen to this article

Playback position

0:002:39

Playback speed

Prices in Ghana are still higher than a year ago despite inflation running in single digits, and the October figures show why a slowing rate and falling prices are not the same thing.

Professor Godfred Bokpin explained on 3News on Wednesday why falling inflation does not mean prices are coming down.

Prof Godfred Bokpin on 3News

The index keeps climbing

The rate is only half the story. The service's consumer price index, set at 100 in 2021, stood at 271.1 in October against 257.0 a year earlier.

On that arithmetic, goods that cost GH¢100 in October 2025 cost about GH¢105.50 now. The shopping basket keeps getting dearer even with the rate in single digits.

October's rate actually rose — from 5.2 to 5.5 per cent — even though prices slipped 0.1 per cent between September and October, with the index easing to 271.1. A year-on-year rate compares months twelve months apart, and October 2025's reading was lower than September 2025's.

Where pressure sits is also shifting. Services inflation jumped to 11.5 per cent from 8.3 in September, while goods inflation eased to 3.8 per cent and food slowed to 2.8 per cent.

Non-food prices are rising at 7.9 per cent, which is why many household budgets do not feel the headline number — a distinction that matters in the current cost-of-living debate, as our fact-check of budget-season claims showed.

What would make prices actually fall

For prices to genuinely come down, the index itself would have to fall over the year — a negative year-on-year rate. That is deflation.

Central banks work hard to avoid it. The Bank of England's explainer notes that when prices fall, people hold off buying in expectation of cheaper deals, businesses earn less and respond by cutting wages or jobs, and debts do not shrink along with prices.

That is why central banks aim for a small positive rate rather than zero. Ghana's target is 8 per cent, plus or minus 2 percentage points, as our 2027 Budget in numbers set out.

Falling inflation, then, means prices rising more slowly — not prices falling.

Araba IncoomAraba Incoom writes on multiple topics with a vast knowledge across different sector. You can almost call me an AI, after all, my initials are Araba Incoom.

Why falling inflation does not mean lower prices in Ghana

Suggested for you

More Stories

‘How many economies would NDC build in Ghana within four years?’ – Afenyo-Markin

Nvidia Board Investigates Reports CEO Jensen Huang Was Targeted by Foreign Intelligence

Minority caucus demands jobs and recruitment funding, challenges call for patience

[Live] Ato Forson breaks down 2027 Budget on JoyNews’ PM Express

Trump Administration Proposes Selling Federal Public Lands to States, Tribes and Local Governments

2027 Budget: Korle-Bu mother and child centre, new hospitals and GH¢200m for ambulances

Discussion