Annual inflation in Sudan further eased to 18.1 per cent in December from 19.1 per cent in November as food costs fell, the government said on Tuesday.

The African country is battling an economic crisis and analysts say still-high food price inflation could stoke dissent against a background of high unemployment, a devalued local currency and US trade sanctions.

Inflation has more than doubled since the government effectively devalued the Sudanese pound in November 2010 to curb black market activity, a measure that had no success.

The Central Statistics Bureau said in its monthly bulletin the costs of various food items such as vegetables, sugar or fish fell in December.

Some local analysts, speaking on condition of anonymity, have expressed doubts over the accuracy of inflation or other economic data since ordinary people complain about high price rises.

Sudan's economy has been hammered by the loss of 75 per cent of the country's 500,000 barrels a day of oil production when South Sudan seceded in July.

Both sides used to share oil revenues, a lifeline for both economies. The South will have to pay fees for northern oil export facilities but analysts say what the north earns is likely to be much less than the roughly 50 per cent it received previously.

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