Regional inflation rates across Ghana diverged sharply in February, even as national year on year inflation slowed to 3.3%, according to data from the Ghana Statistical Service .
The data show that while disinflation is broad-based, price pressures remain uneven, with urban, high-weight regions driving the national average and several smaller regions recording outright deflation.
North East Records Highest Inflation, Savannah Deepest Deflation
The North East Region posted the highest year on year inflation rate at 8.9% in February, down from 11.2% in January. Despite the moderation, it remains well above the national average. However, given its weight of just 0.7% in the CPI basket, its contribution to overall inflation was limited at 0.065 percentage points .
At the other end, Savannah recorded the lowest inflation rate at negative 5.6%, deepening from negative 2.6% in January. Its contribution to headline inflation was negative 0.057 percentage points, indicating falling prices in that region exerted a slight downward pull on the national rate . Other regions with negative year on year inflation included Upper East at negative 2.0%, Bono East at negative 2.2%, and Oti at negative 1.4%, underscoring widening regional price differentials .
Greater Accra and Ashanti Drive National Inflation
Despite not recording the highest inflation rates, Greater Accra and Ashanti remained the dominant drivers of national inflation due to their large CPI weights. Greater Accra, which carries a weight of 28.5%, recorded 4.8% inflation in February, up from 3.0% in January. It contributed 1.375 percentage points to the national rate, accounting for the single largest regional share of inflation .
Ashanti, with a 21.4% weight, posted 3.7% inflation and contributed 0.797 percentage points .Together, the two regions accounted for more than two-thirds of the national inflation outcome, highlighting the structural influence of population density, consumption patterns and market size in shaping the headline figure. Eastern Region followed with 6.2% inflation and a 0.636 percentage point contribution, while Volta posted 5.4% and contributed 0.242 percentage points .
Western Region Sees Sharp Slowdown
Western Region recorded one of the steepest slowdowns, with inflation easing to 0.4% from 5.1% in January, a 4.7 percentage point drop. Its contribution to national inflation fell to 0.029 percentage points .
On a month on month basis, Western also posted negative 2.7% inflation, the lowest in the country, suggesting short-term price declines in that region. By contrast, Greater Accra recorded the highest month on month inflation at 2.4%, reinforcing its upward pressure on the February headline rate .
Structural Gaps Remain
The regional breakdown points to three clear dynamics, first, inflation is increasingly concentrated in high-weight urban regions, particularly Greater Accra and Ashanti. Second, several smaller and largely agrarian regions are experiencing deflation, likely reflecting improved local food supply and lower transport pressures.
Third, the gap between the highest and lowest regional inflation rates widened to 14.5 percentage points in February, from 13.8 percentage points in January. The data suggest that while macroeconomic stabilization is taking hold nationally, price transmission remains uneven across regions, reflecting differences in market access, transport costs and supply conditions.
For policymakers, the persistence of regional divergence may require targeted interventions in logistics, storage and distribution networks to ensure the benefits of disinflation are more evenly shared.
