The year-on-year inflation rate for October 2024 eased to 32.4 percent, down from 34.3 percent in September, the Consumer Price Indices of the National Statistics Office (NSO) show.
The October increase is attributed to a slower rate of increase in food prices compared to the same period last year.
Food inflation stood at 40.3 percent from 43.5 percent observed last month while non-food prices, while still increasing, have registered a slight decline in the rate of increase from 21.8 percent to
21.2 percent over the same period.
The report also highlights a national month-to- month inflation rate for October 2024 stood at 1.9 percent with food inflation rate at 2.2 percent while non-Food inflation rate at 1.3 percent.
The urban month to month inflation rate is at 1.6 percent with urban Food and Non-Food inflation rates standing
at 2.7 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, the rural month to month inflation rate is at 2.0 percent with rural Food and Non-Food inflation rates standing at 2.0 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
Both the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) and the World Bank projected inflation pressure to remain elevated this year due to many factors including El-nino induced agricultural production drop which is exerting pressure on food prices.
Between August 2020 and September 2024, the inflation rate has moved from 7.6 percent to 34.3 percent representing a 26.7 percentage point jump.
