Tanzania Annual Inflation Decrease to 3.2% in March 2021, Food Up by 4.3%

The National Bureau of Statistics of Tanzania (NBS) reveals that the Annual Headline Inflation Rate for the month of March 2021 has decreased to 3.2% from 3.3% in February 2021.

The overall index went up from 100.24 recorded in March 2020 to 103.41 in March 2021.

Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Inflation Rates

Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Inflation Rate has increased from 3.6% in February 2021 to 4.3% in March 2021.

The Annual Inflation Rate for unprocessed food has increased from 2.2% in February 2021 to 2.8% in March 2021 while the inflation rate for all items without unprocessed food for the month of March 2021 has stagnated at 3.4% as it was recorded in February 2021.

Table 1: Changes in the National Consumer Price Indices (NCPI) for March 2021, (2020 = 100)

Monthly Headline Inflation Rate

The National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) has increased by 0.9% between February 2021 and March 2021 similar to the increase that was recorded between January 2021 and February 2021.

The overall index has increased from 102.44 in February 2021 to 103.41 in March 2021. The increase of the overall index is attributed to the price increase for some food and non-food items.

Some of the food items that contributed to such increase include: – wheat flour by 1.6%, dried sardines by 5.1%, sunflower oil by 2.4%, fruits by 2.7%, fresh cassava by 2.9%, cooking bananas by 5.2%, and beans by 1.1%.

On the other hand, some of the non-food items that contributed to an increase of the index include: kerosene by 3.0%, charcoal by 2.6%, diesel by 5.4%, and petrol by 5.5%.