Africa-Press – Zambia. Zambia’s annual inflation for December has decreased to 16.4 percent from 19.3 percent recorded last month. Zambia Statistics Agency (ZAMSTATS) Interim Statistician-General Mulenga Musepa says the move means that the country’s prices of goods and services increased by an average of 16.4 percent between December 2020 and December 2021.
Mr. Musepa has attributed the slowdown in inflation to favorable price movements in both food and non-food items. He has cited the foods that recorded price movements as cereals like mealie meal, Maize grain, Samp and imported Bread Flour.
Mr. Musepa adds that dry foods like fish and Kapenta, Kapenta Mpulungu, vegetables like Lumanda, Chinese cabbage, Pumpkin leaves, Cassava leaves, Okra and Mushrooms among others also recorded price movements.
Meanwhile, Mr. Musepa says Zambia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates for the third quarter of 2021 show that the economy grew by 3.5 percent. He says this represents a 6.5 percentage points increase from minus 3 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020.
Mr. Musepa attributes the growth to six key industries namely Information and communication, and Construction which had the highest positive contributions to growth, financial & insurance, Public administration, Transportation and storage, Manufacturing and Wholesale and retail trade among others.
He says the GDP at the current prices is estimated at K113.3-million compared to K90.4 million recorded in the same quarter of 2020. Mr. Musepa was speaking during the release of the ZAMSTATS monthly statistics for December and the last one for this year.
He also revealed that total trade for the period January to November 2021 was K331 billion compared to K215.6 billion for the same period last year representing a 53.6 percent increase.
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