Despite easing, Zim’s food price inflation remains highest in the world

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Food price pressures that have beset Zimbabwe have persisted, giving the Southern African country the unenviable position of having the world’s worst inflation, despite some slight moderation, a recent report by the World Bank showed.

Despite easing, Zim’s food price inflation remains highest in the world
Zimbabwe maintained its position as the country with the highest food price increase in the world, according to the World Bank. While there was an increase in almost all low- and middle-income countries, Zimbabwe’s food inflation still tipped the scales, signifying the challenges facing the Southern African nation.
Photo: Annelie Coleman
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The World Bank said that Zimbabwe’s CPI eased to 92,3% year-on-year (y/y) in February 2023, down from the prior month’s 229,8% y/y increase, and moving further away from the 18-month high of 285% registered in August 2022.

Annual inflation has been on a downwards trend since September 2022, and reached its lowest level since March 2022 in February 2023.

In its latest report, the World Bank ranked Zimbabwe ahead of Venezuela, while Lebanon was in third place. The development came after a spike in the prices of basic foodstuffs and other commodities in Zimbabwe. In 2022, Zimbabwe ranked second only to Lebanon, but it has since overtaken the Middle Eastern country.

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According to a Trading Economics report, the most important categories in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) food basket included food and non-alcoholic beverages at 31%, housing and utilities at 28%, and transport at 8%. Miscellaneous goods and services accounted for 7%, while household furniture, equipment and maintenance accounted for 5%, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco for another 5%.

Food price pressures were ascribed to, among other factors, the pricing of most food items in Zimbabwe in US dollars, while the majority of the workforce’s earnings were in the local currency.

Annelie Coleman represents Farmer’s Weekly in the Free State, North West and Northern Cape.
Agriculture is in her blood. She grew up on a maize farm in the Wesselsbron district where her brother is still continuing with the family business.
Annelie is passionate about the area she works in and calls it ‘God’s own country’. She’s particularly interested in beef cattle farming, especially with the indigenous African breeds.
She’s an avid reader and owns a comprehensive collection of Africana covering hunting in colonial Africa, missionary history of same period, as well as Rhodesian literature.