Ghanaian banks write off GH₵1.86bn in bad debt by August 2026

Ghana Statistical Service reports producer inflation rise to 4.8%

Year-on-year producer price inflation in Ghana climbed to 4.8% in September 2026, up from the 4.4% recorded in August, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). The increase of 0.4 percentage points indicates a moderate rise in the cost of goods and services at the point of production. Despite this annual uptick, the month-on-month producer inflation rate actually slowed to 1.3% in September, a significant drop from the 2.5% increase recorded during the previous month. These figures indicate a persistent upward pressure on factory-gate prices across several sectors of the economy. The Mining and Quarrying sector emerged as a primary driver of the overall increase, recording an annual inflation rate of 5.5%. Within this sector, the extraction of crude oil and natural gas saw a particularly sharp price jump of 18.3%. The manufacturing sector also contributed to the upward trend, with inflation rising to 4.6%. The GSS reported that eight out of 23 manufacturing sub-groups recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average, with notable price increases observed in the production of leather and fabricated metal products. Meanwhile, the Industrial Producer Price Index (I-PPI) inflation rate increased to 7.2%, reflecting a 0.9 percentage point rise from August 2026. In the services and construction sectors, the data showed mixed results. The Construction Producer Price Index rose to 4.7%, a modest increase of 0.2 percentage points from the previous month. Conversely, the Services Producer Price Index saw a slowdown, declining from 1.8% in August to 1.4% in September. The information and communication sector remained notably stable, maintaining a consistent index level throughout the period. Inflation in the electricity and gas sector eased slightly to 9.8%, although it remains the highest rate among the individual industrial activities tracked by the GSS. In response to these findings, the Ghana Statistical Service has advised businesses to adopt strategic cost-management practices and maintain appropriate inventory levels to mitigate the impact of rising production costs. Consumers are also encouraged to prioritize essential spending as these price adjustments at the producer level may eventually affect retail prices. The GSS emphasized that the current figures are provisional and subject to revision as further data is processed from across the country’s industrial and service sectors.