0.73% in September

 Inflation in Mozambique was 0.73 per cent in September, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE), citing the consumer price indices for the three largest cities (Maputo, Nampula and Beira). Inflation for the first nine months of the year was 3.22 per cent, and annual inflation (1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021) was 6.04 per cent.

The main price increases noted in September were for lemons (up by 76.1 per cent), dried fish (9.4 per cent), coconuts (6.4 per cent), tomatoes (6.3 per cent), restaurant meals (2.5 per cent), and fresh fish (1.7 per cent).

But the prices of some food products fell sharply over the month – peppers (down by 27.5 per cent), garlic (23.7 per cent), lettuce (18 per cent), sweet potatoes (12.2 per cent) and onions (4.7 per cent.

The pattern shown by prices this year is a familiar one. Average prices rose in the first few months of the year, then, as the harvest came in, there was a four month period of deflation. Now prices are rising again, albeit slowly, as the 2021/22 festive season approaches. Inflation was not identical in the three cities. The sharpest price rises were in Nampula, with 1.4 per cent inflation during the month, followed by Maputo with 0.61 per cent, and finally Beira, with just 0.12 per cent.