Data established by the services of the UEMOA Commission reveal that consumer prices in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) zone fell by 0.3% in December 2020 compared to the previous month.

The Harmonized Consumer Price Index (HPC) stood at 105.5 compared to 105.8 in November 2020. “In December 2020, at the level of the various states in the UEMOA zone, the negative monthly variations that boosted the regional trend were recorded in the following countries: Mali (-2.0%), Benin (-1.7%), Burkina Faso (-1.6%), Senegal (-0.7%) and Niger (-0.1%)”, underlines the UEMOA Commission. The HPC of the other three countries in the union increased with 0.8% for Guinea-Bissau, 1.1% for Côte d'Ivoire and 1.2% for Togo.
However, the functional indices of December 2020, compared with those of November 2020, show that the decrease came from the fall in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages (-0.6%), alcoholic beverages, tobacco and drugs (-1.7%), housing, water, gas and other fuels (-0.8%), transport (-0.2%), and restaurant and hotel services (-0.1%).
The UEMOA Commission notes that “with regard to the secondary nomenclature, in monthly variations, the prices of the most volatile products in the HPC basket increased by 0.2%”. The overall price trend is therefore due to falls in the price level of fresh produce (1.7%) and energy products (1.9%). The annual evolution of the HPC shows an increase of 2.2% in the general price level in the UEMOA zone compared to its December 2019 level.
The year 2020 ended with an annual average inflation level of 2.1% at the regional level, driven mainly by changes in function price levels. In the various States of the Union, in descending order, this inflation is 3.0% in Benin, 2.9% in Niger, 2.5% in Senegal, 2.4% in Côte d'Ivoire, 1.9% in Burkina Faso, 1.8% Togo, 1.5% in Guinea-Bissau and 0.5%