Consumer inflation falls in May

Consumer prices fell slightly in May compared to a year ago after rising in April, said the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.

Consumer price inflation, which is measured by the consumer price index, rose 3.3% year on year in May, down from 3.5% in April 2019, Ubos said.

The statistics bureau said the decline was due to a fall in annual core inflation which came in at 4.6% compared to 4.8% the previous month. The decline in the 12-month core inflation rate was due to lower services inflation, itself the result of a fall in the annual communication inflation rate.

Food crops and related items inflation fell 5.4%, down from April’s 6.2% decline, largely due to a year on year decline in the prices of vegetables. However, fruits prices increased over the past 12 months.

Monthly inflation increased by 0.4% compared to April’s 0.8% rise. This was largely a result of food crops and related items inflation, which reduced to 2.6% from 6.6% in the previous month.

Core inflation was unchanged monthly, rising by 0.1%, while energy, fuel and utilities inflation increased by 0.2%, reversing a similar drop in April.