February 1993, mainly due to a rise in food prices, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS).

UBOS upwardly revised the inflation figures for July 2011:  EFU from 9.7% to 10.8%; Food Crop from 42.1% to 42.3%; and, headline from 18.7 to 18.8%.

The main inflation driver remained food inflation, which has a 27.2% weight in the basket of goods and services, according to a UBOS press release.

Food inflation is now 42.9% for the year ending August 2011 from 40.7% for the year ended July 2011. The non-food prices inflation went up to 11.8% for the year ending August 2011 compared to 9.1% recorded for the year ended July 2011.

During the month, food prices rose by 2.4% due to increases in prices of sugar, meat, chicken, fish, eggs, bread, pineapples and fresh milk in most centres. The increase in prices of these food items is mainly attributed to low supplies to the market. On contrary, prices for matoke, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, fresh cassava, passion fruits, groundnuts and maize flour went down in most centres during the month. Non food prices rose by 2.9% due to increases in prices of bottled beer, soda, local brew (waragi and malwa) and charcoal.

Annual Inflation Rates

UBOS noted that this is the highest since February 1993 when it was 24.9%. Food Crops registered an Annual Inflation rate of 33.6% for the year ending August 2011 compared to 42.3% registered for the year ended July 2011. The Annual Core (Underlying) Inflation rate, which excludes food crops, fuel, electricity and metered water increased to 20.0% for the year ending August 2011 compared to 15.6% recorded for the year ended July 2011. The Annual Energy, Fuel and Utilities (EFU) Inflation rate declined slightly to 10.7% for the year ending August 2011 compared to 10.8% for the year ended July 2011.

Monthly Inflation Rates

The Monthly Headline Index increased by 2.7% for the month of August 2011 compared to a 2.3% rise recorded in July 2011. The Monthly Core Inflation rate also went up by 3.9% in August 2011 compared to 3.4% rise in July 2011. Similarly, the EFU Inflation rate rose by 0.4% for the month of August 2011 compared to 1.5% increase registered in July 2011. On the other hand, the Monthly Food Crops Inflation index dropped by 2.6%, the same drop recorded in July 2011.

Other Goods and Services Inflation Rates

Other Goods inflation rate increased to 33.3% in August 2011 from 25.9% in July 2011. Similarly, the Services inflation rate rose to 4.9% in August 2011 compared to 3.8% recorded in July 201. During the month, cement, iron sheets, hair dressing and meals in restaurants prices went up. In addition prices of some imported goods especially secondhand and new clothings, some household and personal goods went up mainly due to continued depreciation of the shilling. Rising prices for petrol and diesel continued pushing up transport fares in some centres.

Inflation Rates by Centre

Gulu, Arua, Masaka and Jinja centres registered higher annual headline inflation rates of 32.7%, 32.4%, 26.4% and 26.0% respectively for the year ending August 2011.