According to the latest data from Statistics Botswana, headline inflation increased to 3.1 percent in January from 3.0 percent in December. Inflation increased for: food and non-alcoholic beverages (from 3.9 to 4.4 percent); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (from 2.8 to 3.8 percent); housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (from 3.3 to 3.5 percent); furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (from 2.8 to 3.1 percent); health (from 2.8 to 3.3 percent); communication (from 0.0 to 0.1 percent); recreation and culture (from 1.7 to 1.8 percent); education (from 3.6 to 4.1 percent); and restaurants and hotels (from 3.1 to 3.6 percent). However, this was partly offset by inflation easing with respect to: clothing and footwear (from 4.9 to 4.5 percent); transport (from -0.3 to -0.9 percent); and miscellaneous goods and services (from 7.9 to 7.6 percent).

The trimmed mean measure of core inflation and inflation excluding administered prices increased from 2.5 to 2.7 percent and 3.7 to 3.9 percent, respectively.