Tanzania’s annual inflation rate fell for the third month in a row to 3.6 percent in March 2022, down from 3.7 percent in February and the lowest level since last June.
The biggest price drops were in transportation (2.9 percent vs. 3.7 percent in February), apparel & footwear (2.4 percent vs. 2.8 percent), housing & utilities (3.2 percent vs. 3.5 percent), and restaurants & hotels (2.4 percent vs. 2.8 percent) (2.4 percent vs 2.7 percent ).
Meanwhile, food costs have continued to rise (6.5 percent vs 6.1 percent ). Consumer prices increased by 0.8 percent on a monthly basis, up from 0.6 percent the previous month.
The National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) in Tanzania tracks the cost of a set basket of products and services purchased by a representative sample of Tanzanian households through time.
Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (38.5 percent of total weight), Transportation (12.5%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuel (11.6 percent), Clothing and Footwear (8.3%), and Furnishing, Housing Equipment, and Routine House Maintenance (8.3%) are the most important categories in the NCPI (6.3 percent ).
Communication (5.6 percent), Restaurants and Hotels (4.2 percent), Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (3.7 percent), Miscellaneous Goods and Services (3.1 percent), Health (2.9 percent), Recreation and Culture (1.6 percent), and Education (1.6 percent) round out the index (1.5 percent ).
With the exception of Tanzania, inflation rates have risen across East African countries as global food and fuel costs have risen as a result of the Ukraine conflict.