A gauge of industrial producer prices continued to accelerate in October as manufacturer prices firmed and the pace of decline in electricity prices moderated, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.
The producer price index for manufacturing and utilities, which tracks price changes for industrial products, rose 1.2 per cent in October from a year earlier, matching the increase seen in September.
The rise was driven primarily by higher manufacturer output prices, though these slowed from the previous month. Prices for food products jumped 4.7 per cent in October, down from 5.3 per cent in September, whilst furniture prices climbed 2.1 per cent, unchanged from September.
Meanwhile, utility prices dropped by 2.4 per cent in the year to October, a slower decline than September’s 4.7 per cent drop. This was largely due to a moderation in the fall in electricity generation prices, which decreased 5.6 per cent compared to 10 per cent the previous month.
The index — also known as the industrial producer price index, or output price index — measures changes in the trading prices of industrial products before the wholesale or retail level. It reflects the cost pressures that industrial producers face, as well as their pricing power, and can signal inflationary pressures building for businesses and consumers.
On a monthly basis, the index decreased by 0.3 per cent in October from September, a faster decline than the previous month’s 0.2 per cent fall and the sharpest drop in 12 months.
This was driven by a 0.3 per cent fall in manufacturing sector prices — the steepest in 13 months — reflecting sharper declines in food product prices and the prices of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals and botanical products.
