Africa-Press – Mozambique. Prices in Mozambique rose 0.68% in August, after four consecutive months of deflation, with year-on-year inflation rising to 4.79%, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The INE’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August indicates that Mozambique “registered an increase in prices of around 0.68%” compared to July, influenced by the food and non-alcoholic beverages sector, contributing a negative 0.63 percentage points to the total monthly change.
“Breaking down the monthly variation by product, it is worth highlighting the price increases in dried fish (30.2%), corn kernels (11.3%), garlic (20.3%), sweet potatoes (9.9%), dried shrimp (6.3%), okra (10.2%), and fruit juices (1.2%). These contributed approximately 0.69 percentage points to the total monthly variation,” the CPI report reads.
Mozambique previously recorded eight monthly declines in the consumer price index in less than a year and a half, four of which were between April and July.
The INE also reports that, compared to 2024, the CPI indicates a year-on-year price increase in August of 4.79% (3.96% in July), mainly influenced by the food and non-alcoholic beverages segments, as well as the price increase for restaurants, hotels, cafes, and similar establishments, which increased by 11.91% and 9.01%, respectively, in the same year.
Cumulative inflation for 2024, according to previous data from the INE, had stood at 4.15%, compared with 5.3% in 2023, but below the peak of nearly 13% reached in July 2022.
The government expects Mozambique to close 2025 with inflation standing at around 7%.
The Bank of Mozambique estimates that annual inflation will continue to slow in the coming months, reflecting the recent decision to exempt some basic products from VAT and reduce toll rates by up to 60%.
“In the short term, the downward trend in annual inflation is expected to continue, reflecting the impact of the VAT exemption on basic products (sugar, cooking oil, and soap), the downward adjustment in water and toll rates, and the drop in food prices on the international market, in a context of stability of the metical,” reads the Economic Situation and Inflation Outlook report, previously reported on by Lusa.
The central bank’s document also pointed out that the usual survey of economic agents “corroborates the outlook for a slowdown in annual inflation,” as the macroeconomic expectations of economic agents revealed in the May study “point to annual inflation of 4.90% in December 2025, which represents a downward revision of 3 basis points compared to the expectations disclosed in the April survey”.
“However, considerable risks and uncertainties persist, primarily internal in nature, which pose challenges to maintaining this scenario, particularly the impacts of the growing worsening of the fiscal situation, uncertainty regarding the speed of recovery of productive capacity and the supply of goods and services, as well as the effects of climate shocks,” the Economic Situation and Inflation Outlook report adds.
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