Zambia’s annual inflation rate dropped from 7.3 percent in December 2012 to 7.0 percentage points in January 2013. The Central Statistical Office (CSO) has attributed this decline to mainly the decrease in prices of some food items. Lusaka provinces contributed the most to the overall annual inflation whilst North-western Province’s contribution of 0.1 percent was the least. In terms of Month-on Month inflation, the monthly food inflation rate increased by 0.1 percentage points between December last year and January 2013.Notably, maize grain, roller maize meal, breakfast maize meal, dressed chicken and tomatoes increased by 9.0, 5.0, 1.6, 4.2 and 9.6 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, Zambia recorded a trade surplus in the last month of 2012 valued at K112.8 Billion (KR 112.8 million). There was however a decrease in the total value of metal exports despite the share contribution of metals and their products to the total export earnings in December 2012 rising. The country’s traditional exports accounted for 66.2 percent of the country’s total exports in December whilst the contribution of the traditional exports to the total value of exports was 65.4 percent in November 2012.
