Ethiopia’s general inflation rate declines to 33.7 percent in February: ESS

Ethiopia’s general inflation rate declines to 33.7 percent in February: ESS

Ethiopia’s general inflation rate stood at 33.7 percent in February 2023, a decrease of 0.2 percent from January, the Ethiopian Statistics Service (ESS) disclosed this week.  

In its monthly update report, ESS stated the main factor for the “slight decline” in general inflation rate for last month was the slight decline in price of food items.

The report disclosed Ethiopia recorded a food inflation rate of 35.2 percent in February, a decline of one percent from the food inflation rate in the previous month.

Nevertheless, the ESS report disclosed that the non-food inflation rate for last month reached 31.5 percent, up from January 2023 non-food inflation rate which stood at 30.4 percent.

The Ethiopian Statistics Service attributed the increase in non-food inflation rate mainly to increase in prices of clothes, shoes, household items and electronics equipments.

The ESS February 2023 report stating decline of Ethiopia’s general inflation rate, apparently powered by decline in food prices contradicts widespread Ethiopian consumer sentiment that prices of essential food items are instead increasing.

In recent weeks, many Ethiopians have taken to social media to complain the dramatic spike in essential food items such as the country’s staple grain, teff and wheat products.