Nigeria’s inflation rate rises to 25.8% as food prices soar

The consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, rose to 25.80 percent in August 2023 — up from 24.08 percent in the previous month.

In its CPI report for August 2023, released on Friday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the country’s inflationary trend was driven by increases in food prices.

In July, the country’s inflation figure hit the highest in more than 10 years, according to analysis by TheCable Index.

The last time Nigeria’s inflation reached the 24 percent level was in September 2005, when the rate was 24.3 percent.

The latest figure marks the eighth consecutive rise in the country’s inflation rate this year.

The NBS report showed the August 2023 headline inflation rate shows an increase of 1.72 percent points when compared with the July figure rate.

“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.27% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2022, which was 20.52%,” NBS said.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in August 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., August 2022).”

The bureau said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2023 was 3.18 percent — up by 0.29 percentage points than the rate recorded in July 2023 (2.89 percent).

This means that in August 2023, on average, the general price level was 0.29 percent higher relative to July 2023.

“The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve-month period ending August 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 22.38%, showing a 5.31% increase compared to 17.07% recorded in August 2022,”  the NBS said.

FOOD INFLATION ROSE TO 29.34% IN AUGUST 2023

According to the report, the food inflation rate in August 2023 was 29.34 percent on a year-on-year basis. This was 6.22 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2022 (23.12 percent).

“The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of Oil and fat, Bread and cereals, Fish, Fruit, Meat, Vegetables and Potatoes, Yam and other Tubers, Vegetable, Milk, Cheese and Eggs,” the report reads.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in August 2023 was 3.87%, this was 0.41% points higher compared to the rate recorded in July 2023 (3.45%).”

According to the data agency, the rise in food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, oil and fat, coffee, tea, and Cocoa.

“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2023 over the previous twelve-month average was 25.01%, which was 5.99% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2022 (19.02%),” the data body said.

RESIDENTS OF LAGOS, KOGI, KWARA STATES PAID MORE FOR FOOD IN AUGUST

According to NBS, CPI is weighted by consumption expenditure patterns which differ across states and locations.

In essence, the weight assigned to a particular food or non-food item may differ from state to state making interstate comparisons of consumption baskets inadvisable and potentially misleading.

Furthermore, the report noted that Kogi, Lagos, and Kwara residents paid more for food during the review period.

“In August 2023, Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi (38.84%), Lagos (36.04%), and Kwara (35.33%), while Sokoto (20.09%), Nasarawa (24.35%) and Jigawa (24.53%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis,” NBS said.

However, the bureau said on a month-on-month basis, August 2023 food inflation was highest in Rivers (7.12 percent), Kwara (5.89 percent), and Kogi (5.80 percent), while Sokoto (0.50 percent), Abuja (1.30 percent) and Niger (1.40 percent) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation.