Services Push Prices Up: Ghana Inflation Rises to 5.20% in SeptemberServices Push Prices Up:Ghana Inflation Risesto 5.20% in September

Annual inflation reached 5.20%, up from 5.00% in August, and the Ghana Statistical Service said services are now rising almost twice as fast as goods. Services inflation stood at 8.30% against 4.20% for goods, which matters for households because rent, utilities and eating out take a growing share of monthly budgets.

Mwenendo earlier reported on how Ghana's August inflation reached 5.00% alongside faster producer costs. September's reading adds a second consecutive increase, although the rate is still well below the 9.40% recorded a year earlier and the 3.20% low reached in March.

Food prices turn upwards

Food inflation rose to 4.00% from 3.00% in August. Fresh tomatoes were 153.40% dearer than a year earlier and ginger had doubled, up 100.40%, while limes were 29.90% cheaper. For a shopper at a Kumasi or Accra market, that means the weekly stew ingredients cost far more than in September 2025, even as the overall food rate stays modest.

Non-food inflation moved the other way, easing to 6.20% from 6.80%. It still makes up about 63% of the overall rate, so it remains the bigger driver of the headline figure.

Housing and finance costs lead the basket

Among spending groups, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels recorded the highest inflation at 10.30%. Insurance and financial services followed at 9.40%, and restaurants and accommodation at 9.20%. Locally produced items rose 6.40% while imported items rose 2.40%, so the pressure is largely home-grown rather than imported.

Prices also differ sharply by place. The Western Region recorded inflation of minus 0.50%, while the Ashanti Region reached 9.80%. Ashanti and Greater Accra together contributed 56.60% of the national rate, so conditions in the two biggest urban economies set the national picture.

Where the Bank of Ghana stands

The government statistician, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, noted that inflation remains below the lower bound of the Bank of Ghana's medium-term target of 8% plus or minus 2 percentage points. That means the 5.20% reading is still outside the band at the bottom, not the top.

The Bank of Ghana held its policy rate at 14.00% on 24 September in a unanimous vote, its third hold this year. Governor Johnson Asiama has said global price pressure has increased since July. The statistical service has not said whether the two-month rise will continue, and the bank's next rate decision date was not given in the reports reviewed.

For borrowers and savers, the gap between a 14.00% policy rate and 5.20% inflation means real returns on cash remain high, while loans stay costly. As Mwenendo earlier reported, Ghana's 6.0% growth in the second quarter leaves the economy expanding even as prices tick up.

In an earlier report by Mwenendo, Nigeria's inflation easing to 15.39% in August showed how differently price pressures are moving across West Africa, with Ghana now heading up from a far lower base.