Zimbabweans have been pushed deeper into economic misery as the local currency continues on a free fall, pushing prices of basic commodities and services beyond the reach of most poor families. The Food Poverty Line (FPL) for one person in December 2023 was ZWL106,696.52. This means that the minimum needs basket cost ZWL106,696.52 per person in December 2023. The amount represents an increase of 21.6 percent over the November 2023 figure of ZWL87,756.38. The Total Consumption Poverty Line (TCPL) for one person was ZWL140,252.59 in December 2023. This means that an individual required ZWL140,252.59 to purchase both food and non-food items as of December 2023 in order not to be deemed extremely poor. This represents an increase of 21.9 percent when compared to the November 2023 figure of ZWL115, 090.15.
Due to the continued rising of the exchange rate, the cost f living for January is also expected to be more than that in December as the local currency has increased extremely. Currently, it is trading at ZWL$ 13,000 against the US$ at the parallel market and at ZWL$ 6,908 against the US$ at the interbank rate.
|
Month |
Food Poverty Line
(FPL)/person |
Total Consumption Poverty
Line (TCPL)/person |
|
January |
ZWL$ 22,384.78 |
ZWL$ 24,499.89 |
|
February |
ZWL$
22,386.43 |
ZWL$
29,562.94 |
|
March |
ZWL$ 22,560.53 |
ZWL$ 29,778.08 |
|
April |
ZWL$
25,170.00 |
ZWL$
33,044.46 |
|
May |
ZWL$ 30,108,94 |
ZWL$ 39,927.46 |
|
June |
ZWL$
69,941.05 |
ZWL$
91,171.62 |
|
July |
ZWL$ 77,186.03 |
ZWL$ 99,545.95 |
|
August |
ZWL$
70,460.81 |
ZWL$
91,063.30 |
|
September |
ZWL$ 73,235.85 |
ZWL$ 95,462.53 |
|
October |
ZWL$
80,152.32 |
ZWL$
105,072.27 |
|
November
|
ZWL$ 87,756.01 |
ZWL$ 115,090.00 |
|
December
|
ZWL$ 106,696.00 |
ZWL$ 140,252.59 |
Zimbabwe has over the past five months managed to keep the monthly inflation rate below the target of 5% set by authority in January 2023 up to December 2023, after the December blended inflation rate came in at 4.7%. The M-O-M inflation rate has stayed below the 5% target since spiking to 12.3% in June 2023, remaining the highest blended monthly rate of the year.
|
Month |
Month-On-Month Inflation Rate |
CPI Index |
Year-On-Year Inflation Rate |
|
January |
0.0 |
101.5 |
53.0 |
|
February |
-3.7 |
92.3 |
44.1 |
|
March |
-0.3 |
87.6 |
40.8 |
|
April |
1.5 |
75.2 |
33.5 |
|
May |
2.6 |
86.5 |
30.7 |
|
June |
12.1 |
175.8 |
30.9 |
|
July |
1.0 |
101.3 |
22.7 |
|
August |
-1.3 |
77.2 |
17.7 |
|
September |
1.0 |
101.24 |
18.4 |
|
October |
2.5 |
103.44 |
17.8 |
|
November |
4.5 |
108.13 |
21.6 |
|
December |
4.7 |
113.22 |
26.5 |
According to Zimstat, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December was 113.22 down from 108.13 the previous month. In December 2022 the CPI index was 89.49. The month-on-month inflation rate was 4.7% in December, gaining 0.2 on the November 2023 rate of 4.5%. This means that prices as measured by all-items consumer price index, increased by an average of 4.7% between November and December 2023. This has shown that the Zimbabwean economy has remained volatile with businesses and service providers have resorted to forward pricing to hedge against losses.
