//Kharas, Hardap, Erongo dig deeper for beef stew

Consumers in zone three, which covers the //Kharas, Erongo, Hardap and Omaheke regions, paid the highest price for beef stew at N$111.12 per kg.

This was said by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) in its Namibia Consumer Price Index (NCPI) bulletin for May.

This is followed by the Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa and Zambezi regions in zone one at N$110.49, with Khomas consumers in zone two paying the lowest price of N$101.59.

However, consumers in zone two paid the highest price for tinned pilchards in tomatoes (400g) at N$36.32, followed by zone three at N$34.70, while the lowest price of N$32.32 was paid by consumers in zone one.

According to NSA chief executive Alex Shimuafeni, these prices contributed to the headline inflation rate rising 3.5% for the 12 months ending May 2025, after rising 4.9% over the 12 months ending May 2024.

“The price level increased by 0.2% month on month, similar to the previous month’s rate,” he says.

For the 12 months ending May 2025, zone three recorded the highest inflation rate of 4%, higher than the headline inflation rate.

Zone one recorded an annual inflation rate of 3.5%, in line with the headline inflation rate, while zone two recorded 3.1%, lower than the headline inflation rate, Shimuafeni adds.

NSA says the major contributors to the 3.5% annual inflation rate for May 2025 were food and non-alcoholic beverages, contributing 1.2 percentage points; followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, contributing 0.9 percentage points, while alcoholic beverages and tobacco contributed 0.8 percentage points.

“On a monthly basis, the price levels for the period under review remained constant at 0.2%, reflecting the same rate of change witnessed a month earlier,” notes the bulletin.

The highest change in the annual inflation rate was witnessed with food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as alcoholic beverages and tobacco, each recording 5.8%; followed by hotels, cafés and restaurants at 5.7%; education at 4.3% and recreation and culture with 4.2%.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels accounted for 28.4% of the consumer basket with the annual inflation rate for this category recording an increase of 3.6% in May 2025 compared to 3.7% in May 2024.

“On a monthly basis, this category registered a deflation of 0.4% in May 2025, after rising 0.3% the previous month,” says the NSA.

The bulletin says food and non-alcoholic beverages, which accounts for 16.5% of the NCPI basket, recorded an annual inflation rate of 5.8% in May 2025, after witnessing an inflation rate of 4.7% in May 2024.

On a monthly basis, the inflation rate for this division rose to 0.7%, compared to a no change (0.0%) recorded in the previous month.

The food sub-category accounted for 14.8% of the consumer basket with bread, and cereals having the highest weight of 4.8%, followed by meat at 3.5%; sugar, jam, honey, syrups, chocolate and confectionery at 1.4% while vegetables and milk, cheese and eggs contributed 1.2% each.

According to the bulletin, transport which, accounted for 14.3% of the consumer basket, registered a deflation rate of 1.3% during May 2025, compared to a 7.7% increase in the same month of the preceding year.

On a monthly basis, the inflation rate for this category stood at 0.1% in May 2025, compared to 0.9% decrease a month ago, says the bulletin.

– email: matthew@namibian.com.na

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