Ghana’s inflation story is increasingly being shaped by costs beyond the food market, with housing, utilities and services putting greater pressure on household budgets and the cost of doing business.
Headline inflation rose to 5.0% in August 2026 from 4.6% in July, according to the Ghana Statistical Service, even as food inflation edged down from 3.1% to 3.0%.
Non-food inflation, by contrast, rose to 6.8% and accounted for 70.9% of total inflation, more than twice the 29.1% contribution from food.
That shift is bringing a different set of expenses into sharper focus. Rent still has to be paid, electricity has to be supplied, workers have to commute, goods have to be moved and businesses have to meet the cost of keeping their operations running.
Food remains a major part of household spending, but the August figures show that it is no longer the main source of inflationary pressure. More of the pressure is now coming from the wider costs of living and doing business.
For consumers, however, the moderation in food inflation has not been uniform across the market. Prices of some food items remain significantly higher than they were a year ago.
Fresh tomatoes recorded annual inflation of 158.3% in August, followed by ginger at 128.3%. Shrimps recorded inflation of 67.1%, mangoes 57.7% and coconut 38%.
Other food items moved in the opposite direction. Lime prices fell by 33.7% over the year, maize by 31.3%, kontomire or alefu by 24.8% and fried fish by 23.2%.
Food prices also fell by 2.5% between July and August, with lime and maize among the products recording some of the sharpest monthly declines.
The variation means that the experience of food prices still depends heavily on what households buy. A decline in the overall food inflation rate therefore sits alongside large increases in some of the products that remain common in household and commercial food purchases.
The stronger source of inflation in August came from outside food.
Services recorded inflation of 8.6%, more than twice the 3.8% recorded for goods. The difference is significant because services account for a large part of the expenses that households and businesses face regularly, from transport and accommodation to education and financial services.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels recorded inflation of 11.6% in August, up sharply from 8.3% in July. The division contributed 29.4% of total inflation, making it the largest contributor among the expenditure categories.
Education recorded inflation of 9.3%, while insurance and financial services rose by 10.6%. Transport recorded 7.6% inflation and restaurants and hotels 7.9%.
These costs do not sit outside the household budget simply because they are classified as non-food. Rent, utility bills, transport fares, school-related expenses and other services compete for the same income that households use to buy food.
The same applies to businesses. Premises have to be rented, electricity and other utilities have to be paid for, employees have to travel to work and products have to be transported. Higher costs across those areas can feed into the cost of operating a business even when the price of goods themselves is rising more slowly.
The August figures also point to a predominantly domestic source of the remaining inflation pressure.
Inflation for locally produced items stood at 6.1%, compared with 2.2% for imported items. Locally produced items accounted for 86.2% of total inflation, while imported items accounted for 13.8%.
The difference is particularly important for businesses whose costs are tied to activities within Ghana. The stronger inflation rate for locally produced items indicates that a large part of the price pressure is coming from costs generated within the domestic economy rather than from imported products.
Individual items also continue to make a sizeable contribution to the national rate. Fresh tomatoes accounted for 23.1% of total inflation, while rents contributed 14.7%. Ginger contributed 12.2%, charcoal 9.2% and cooked rice 7.9%.
Yam contributed 6.6%, while social security scheme fees, bus and trotro fares, electricity and hotel accommodation also featured among the major contributors.
The national rate, meanwhile, conceals substantial differences across the regions.
Central recorded the highest regional inflation at 11.1% in August, followed by Ashanti at 8.7% and North East at 8.5%. Greater Accra recorded 5.0%, in line with the national rate.
At the lower end, inflation stood at 1.2% in Bono and 0.6% in Northern. Savannah recorded virtually no inflation, while Bono East recorded negative inflation of 3.3%.
Ashanti and Greater Accra together accounted for 63.6% of the national inflation contribution, while Central accounted for another 20.0%.
The regional spread matters for businesses operating across different parts of the country as well as households whose spending patterns and living costs vary by location. A national inflation rate of 5.0% therefore does not translate into the same cost environment everywhere.
Yet the national picture remains considerably better than it was a year ago.
Headline inflation has fallen from 11.5% in August 2025 to 5.0% in August 2026. Consumer prices also fell by 1.0% between July and August, even though the annual inflation rate increased over the same period.
What has changed is not simply the level of inflation, but where the remaining pressure is concentrated.
Food inflation is now running at 3.0%, compared with 6.8% for non-food items. Services are recording 8.6% inflation, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels are at 11.6%.
Ghana has therefore moved a long way from the double-digit inflation recorded a year ago. But for households and businesses, the cost environment has not disappeared; it has become more concentrated in the expenses that come with housing, utilities, transport and services.
Food is still part of that financial pressure. It is simply no longer carrying the largest share of it.
