In September, headline inflation increased to 2.8 percent from 2.6 percent in August. According to the latest data from Statistics Botswana, inflation increased for: food and non-alcoholic beverages (from 2.9 to 3.1 percent); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (from 2.0 to 2.8 percent); transport (from -2.8 to -1.7 percent); and restaurants and hotels (from 3.8 to 3.9 percent). However, this was partly offset by inflation easing with respect to: clothing and footwear (from 6.2 to 5.7 percent); housing water, electricity, gas and other fuels (from 5.6 to 4.1 percent); furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (from 2.6 to 2.4 percent); and health (from 2.7 to 2.6 percent). Inflation was unchanged for: communication (0.0 percent); recreation and culture (1.8 percent); education (3.6 percent); and miscellaneous goods and services (7.4 percent).

The trimmed mean measure of core inflation increased from 2.4 to 2.6 percent, while inflation excluding administered prices remained unchanged at 3.6 percent.