Nigeria’s inflation rate soars to 31.7% as food prices surge

The consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, rose to 31.7 percent in February 2024 — up from 29.9 percent in the previous month.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its CPI report for January, released on Friday.

According to the bureau, food inflation also surged to 37.92 percent in the month under review.

The bureau said the January 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of “1.80% points when compared to the January 2023 headline inflation rate.”

“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 9.79% points higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023, which was 21.91%,” the report reads.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in February 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., February 2023).

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in February 2024 was 3.12%, which was 0.48% higher than the rate recorded in January 2024 (2.64%).”

This, according to the NBS, means that in February 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level was more than the rate of increase in the average price level in January 2024.

FOOD INFLATION RATE ROSE TO 37.92 PERCENT

The NBS report also said the food inflation rate in February 2024 was 37.92 percent on a year-on-year basis — 13.57 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023 (24.35 percent).

According to the bureau, the rise in food inflation was caused by increased prices of bread and cereals, oil and fat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, meat, and fruit.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in February 2024 was 3.79% this was 0.58% higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2024 (3.21%),” the NBS said.

“The rise in the Food inflation on a Month-on-Month basis was caused by a rise in the rate of increase in the average prices of Bread and Cereals, Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers, Fish, Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa.

The data bureau said the average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending February 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 30.07 percent.

This was a 7.95 percent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in February 2023 (22.12 percent), the NBS said.