The month-on-month change in producer price index between August 2019 and September 2019 was 0.1 per cent.

Mr David Kombat, the Deputy Government Statistician, said the producer price inflation in the Mining and Quarrying sub-sector increased by 0.6 percentage points over the August 2019 rate of 36.5 per cent to record 37.1 per cent in September.

Manufacturing, which constitutes more than two-thirds of total industry fell by 0.9 percentage points to record 4.9 per cent.

The utilities sub-sector recorded inflation rate of 6.9 per cent in September.

During the month of September 2019, eight out of the 16 major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 4.9 per cent.

Manufacture of machinery and equipment recorded the highest inflation rate of 24.7 per cent, while Tanning and dressing of leather recorded inflation rate of 0.0 per cent.

The producer inflation rate in the petroleum sub-sector fell to 0.7 per cent in September from 3.1 percent in August 2019.