The National Consumer Price Index (CPI) for goods and services in the country for the month of December 2005, increased to 414.23 from 412.80 in November.

However, year-on-year inflation fell from 15.3% in November 2005 to 14.8% in December 2005.

Inflation for the end of the year did not reach the targeted 13.5%, registering a decrease of 0.5%, the latest consumer price index released by the Ghana Statistical Service has revealed.

Food inflation over 12 months was higher than the combined inflation by 0.2%, and for December last year, it was 15%, while that of non-food inflation was 14.6%, which is 0.2% below the combined inflation.

Inflation rate, which is the general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money, has been hovering around 15% for some time now.

The national CPI increased by 1.43 points over that of the previous month. The largest upward effect on the level of the national index for a commodity group came from education and recreation (+0.86 points), while the largest downward effect was from the household goods (-1.10 points).

Within the commodity group, the highest upward contribution to the change in CPI came from meat (+1.86 points), whilst prepared meals had the biggest effect in the downward direction (-136 points).

The CPI for rural areas was 457.02, whilst that of urban areas was 397.87, with Accra recording 482.10.