Ghana has the highest food inflation rate among lower-middle-income countries in Africa, according to the World Bank’s Food Security Update for February 2025.
The country’s food inflation rate of 28.3% in December 2024 placed it first among its peers in the region.
Egypt came second with a food inflation rate of 20.8% as of December 2024, followed by Zambia in third place with a rate of 19.2%.
The World Bank noted that domestic food price inflation, measured as the year-on-year change in the food component of a country’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), remains moderately high.
The Bretton Woods institution stated: “Recent data from October 2024 to January 2025 shows high inflation in many low- and middle-income countries. In these countries, inflation exceeds 5% in 73.7% of low-income nations, 52.2% of lower-middle-income countries, and 38.0% of upper-middle-income countries. It also remains slightly lower in high-income countries by 1.8 percentage points.”
In real terms, food price inflation exceeds overall inflation in 56% of the 164 countries for which both food CPI and overall CPI data are available.
Since its January 2025 update, the World Bank reported that agricultural and export price indices have risen, closing at 3% and 6% higher, respectively.
The cereal price index remained unchanged, with maize prices rising by 3% and wheat prices by 5%. On the other hand, rice prices fell by 10%.
On a year-on-year basis, maize prices increased by 10%, while wheat and rice prices decreased by 6% and 19%, respectively. Compared to January 2020, maize prices have risen by 27%, wheat prices have decreased by 2%, and rice prices have increased by 14%.
