Tanzania Annual Inflation Increase to 5.3% in September 2017

The National Bureau of Statistics of Tanzania (NBS) indicates that the Annual Headline Inflation Rate increased to 5.3% in September 2017 from 5.0% recorded in August 2017.

NBS explains that the increase is the result of the speed of price change for commodities in the year ending September 2017 that has increased compared to the speed of price change recorded in August 2017.

The overall index went up to 108.48 in September 2017 from 103.03 recorded in September 2016.

Food and Non-Food Inflation Rates

Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Inflation Rate for the Month of September 2017 has increased to 9.3% from 8.6% recorded in August 2017.

Annual Inflation Rate for food consumed at home and away from home has increased to 9.8% in September 2017 from 9.1% recorded in August 2017.

In addition, the 12-month index change for non-food products has stagnated at 3.1% in September 2017 as it was recorded in August 2017.

Inflation Rate Excluding Food and Energy
The Annual Inflation Rate which excludes food and energy for the month of September 2017 has slightly decreased to 1.7% from 1.8% recorded in August 2017.

Monthly Headline Inflation Rate
The Monthly Headline Inflation Rate for the month of September 2017 has increased by 0.02% compared to a decrease of 0.4% recorded in August 2017.

The overall index has increased to 108.48 in September 2017 from 108.46 recorded in August 2017.

The increase of the overall index is attributed to the price increase of food and non-food items.

Some food items that contributed to such increase include dried sardines by 7.6%, dried fruit such as coconuts by 3.1%, sweet potatoes by 3.0%, rice by 1.5% and cooking bananas by 1.5%.

Some non-food items that contributed to such increase include charcoal by 4.0%, diesel by 2.4% and petrol by 0.6%.

Purchasing Power
The purchasing power of 100 Tanzanian Shillings has reached TZS 92 and 18 cents in September 2017 compared to TZS 92 and 20 cents recorded in August 2017.