Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, celebrates his 84th birthday on Thursday with an unwelcome present from his government’s statistical office which says the country’s inflation rate surged to a new record of over 100,000 per cent in January.

Official figures show prices rose 121 per cent during January, and while this was half the 240 per cent experienced in December and the lowest monthly figure since September 2007, it still takes the annual rate to 100,580 per cent.