Uganda consumer price prices jumped in February at the fastest pace in 20 months as economic activity picked up following the lifting of almost all pandemic measures and the reopening of the hospitality and education sectors.
The consumer price index published by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics on Monday rose 3.2 per cent in February from a year ago — the fastest annual pace since July 2020, and down from January’s 2.7 per cent rate. The CPI measures the rate at which the price levels of a fixed basket of goods and services bought by households rises or falls.
Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, rose 3.1 per cent from a year before, the largest increase in nine months. In January, it rose 2.3 per cent. The other goods index increased 5.1 per cent while the services index gained 0.8 per cent.
On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 1 per cent, compared with a 0.3 per cent drop in January, the highest monthly rate since the reference period of the index was changed to the 2016/2017 government financial year.
Prices for education services leapt 9 per cent year-on-year, compared to an increase of 0.6 per cent the previous month, and contributed significantly to the rise in the overall index. The indexes for furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance and restaurants and accomodation services also gained sharply in January.
Primary and secondary schools were allowed to reopen in January — universities and higher education institutions reopened last November — ending the world’s longest closure of learning institutions. The 12-month early childhood and primary education inflation rate came in at 14.7 per cent, while secondary education inflation was 6.4 per cent; both categories recorded inflation rates of 0 per cent in January.
The reopening of schools also drove up demand for furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance and clothing and footwear, while the recovery in prices for accomodation services follows the ending of pandemic restrictions on the hospitality industry.
In month-on-month terms, the rise in inflation in February was mainly attributed to a surge in education services inflation of 8.4 per cent, compared to 0 percent in January. Inflation for furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance also increased 3.7 per cent down from 0.6 per cent the previous month.
