{
  "id": 7973317,
  "title": "Energy and mining drive producer inflation to 4.4%",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/energy-and-mining-drive-producer-inflation-to-4-4",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-17T06:38:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Ghana Business News",
    "slug": "ghana-business-news",
    "url": "https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2026/09/17/energy-and-mining-drive-producer-inflation-to-4-4/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ghana's producer price inflation climbed to 4.4 percent in August 2026, with crude oil and natural gas extraction leading the charge in factory-gate price hikes across the country's production sectors. This figure, reported by the Ghana Statistical Service, was a 0.4 percentage point rise from the 4 percent recorded in July and a 2.5 percent increase month-on-month, underscoring growing production costs that likely will be transmitted to consumer prices as manufacturers pass along rising input costs.\n\nIndustry (excluding construction) expanded at a robust 6.3 percent year-on-year pace in August, fueled chiefly by mining operations influenced by crude oil price fluctuations. Mining and quarrying operations emerged as the chief drivers of August's producer inflation, comprising 43.7 percent of the total PPI surge, with crude oil and natural gas extraction contributing 12.9 percent year-on-year inflation. Mining support service activities climbed 5.7 percent, while other mining and quarrying activities rose 5.6 percent, although metal ore mining declined by 0.4 percent, the sole sector experiencing a contraction within the mining subsectors.\n\nElectricity and gas services witnessed 12.3 percent year-on-year inflation in August, a slight decrease from the 13.3 percent in July, yet remained the fastest-growing productive activity in Ghana's economy. Construction inflation eased to 4.5 percent from 4.8 percent, while the services sector observed the smallest price pressure, declining to 1.8 percent from 2.5 percent, indicating divergent cost pressures across different economic segments. In manufacturing, inflation averaged 3.6 percent year-on-year, with leather product manufacturing posting the highest subsector inflation at 17.4 percent, followed by fabricated metal products at 16.4 percent and furniture manufacturing at 8.5 percent. Food products manufacturing increased 8.4 percent, while beverage manufacturing rose 7.1 percent, while motor vehicle manufacturing and non-metallic mineral products experienced negative inflation at -2.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.\n\nThe services sector, the economy's largest component by employment and revenue, saw the most moderate price dynamics in August with 1.8 percent year-on-year inflation, easing from July's 2.5 percent. However, considerable variation existed within services subsectors, with motion picture, video, television production, and music publishing recording an extreme outlier at 87.9 percent inflation, reflecting significant cost increases in media production activities. Land transportation inflation measured 9.3 percent, air transport 7.8 percent, and accommodation 7.5 percent, pointing to moderate cost pressures in transportation and hospitality services. Information and communication activities recorded 0.6 percent inflation, telecommunications remained steady at zero percent, while water transportation increased by only 0.2 percent, suggesting that digital services and maritime transportation experienced stable costs. Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, the Government Statistician, emphasized that producer prices serve as an early-warning system for the broader economy, signaling cost pressures at the factory-gate before they impact retail shops and household budgets. He urged households to prioritize essentials, adjust spending to price changes, reduce avoidable costs through energy and water-saving practices, shop prudently, and invest in energy and water-saving measures. Dr. Iddrisu also urged businesses to improve operational efficiency, manage costs carefully, review pricing strategies, secure critical input supplies through diversified suppliers, maintain appropriate inventory levels to mitigate future price increases and supply disruptions, and invest in productivity-enhancing technologies. He called on the government and policymakers to leverage PPI data for targeted policy interventions to address cost pressures in critical sectors while fostering economic growth and monitoring sectoral inflation differences to support growth and employment.",
  "summary": "Ghana’s producer price inflation increased to 4.4 per cent year-on-year in August 2026, with crude oil and natural gas extraction driving factory-gate price increases throughout the country’s production systems. The post Energy and mining drive producer inflation to 4.4% appeared first on Ghana Business News .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}