July 2008 Zambian Inflation Pushed To 12.6 percent

The July 2008 Zambian inflation rate as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index was recorded at 12.6 percent as at July 2008.

Changes in the annual inflation rates

During the period from June 2008 to July 2008, the annual inflation rates increased for rent and household energy, furniture and household goods, medical care, transport and communication, recreation and education, other goods and services, and declined for food, beverages and tobacco, clothing and footwear main groups.

Contribution of different items to the July 2008 Zambian inflation

The increase in the cost of petroleum products, public transport and household energy was responsible for the rise in the July 2008 Zambian inflation rate from 12.1 percent in June 2008 to 12.6 percent in July 2008.

In July 2008, food products accounted for 6.8 percentage points while non-food products accounted for 5.8 percentage points.

Annual food inflation rate – 14.2 percent

The annual food inflation rate for food went down in July 2008 to 14.1 percent from 15.6 percent in June 2008.

However, there were some increases in the cost of Maize meal, maize grain, other cereals and cereal products, meat, kapenta, cooking oil, dried beans, shelled groundnuts and tubers.

Partially offsetting these increases were declines in the cost of fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, table salt, sugar, and other processed food products.

Annual Non-food inflation – 11.2 percent

There was an increment in non-food inflation from 8.8 percent in June 2008 to 11.2 percent in July 2008.

Prices Of Some Selected Products

A comparison of retail prices in June 2008 and July 2008 indicated the following:

The price of a 25 kg bag of breakfast meal increased by 2.2 percent from K 46,478 to K 47,523.
The price of a 20 liter tin of maize grain increased by 6.0 percent, from K 15,970 to K 16,926.
The price of 1 kg of dried kapenta (Mpulungu) increased by 5.1 percent.
The price of 1 kg of tomatoes declined by 9.5 percent.

June 2008 Trade Surplus

In the month of June 2008 Zambia recorded a Trade Surplus valued at K 260.7 billion. This means that the country exported more in June 2008 than it imported in value terms.

Zambia’s Major Exports Classified by Harmonized Coding System (HS) June 2008

The five major exports which accounted for 88.4 percent of Zambia’s export earnings were as follows:

Copper and articles thereof accounted for 69.3 percent of total export earnings.
Plastics and articles thereof accounted for 6.5 percent of total export earnings.
Ores, slag and ash accounted for 5.4 percent of total export earnings.
Other base metals such as cobalt which are copper related accounted for 4.2 percent of total export earnings.
Vehicles, other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof accounted for 3.0 percent of total export earnings.

Zambia’s Major Exports Destinations by Products in June 2008

The five major destinations of Zambia’s exports were the following:

Switzerland – 43.9 percent
Democratic Republic of Congo 12.3 percent
South Africa – 8.9 percent
Egypt – 7.8 percent
Republic of Thailand – 3.6 percent

These five countries collectively accounted for 76.5 percent of Zambia’s export earnings.