Nigeria’s inflation nears two-decade high at 20.52% as bread, transport costs soar

The consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, surged to 20.52 percent in August 2022, up from 19.64 percent in the previous month.

The rate is the highest since October 2005.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said this in its consumer price index (CPI) report for August 2022, released on Thursday.

According to NBS, the rate was 3.52 percent higher than the 17.01 percent recorded in August 2021.

According to the report, increases were recorded in all classifications of individual consumption according to purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.

“On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2022 was 1.77 percent, this was 0.05 percent lower than the rate recorded in July 2022 (1.82 percent). This means that in August 2022 the headline inflation rate (month–on–month basis) declined by 0.05 percent,” the report reads.

“The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months period ending August 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 17.07 percent, showing a 0.47 percent increase compared to 16.60 percent recorded in August 2021.”

The report added that food inflation rose to 23.12 percent in August 2022 on a year-on-year basis, representing a 2.82 percent increase when compared to 20.30 percent in August 2021.

“This rise in the food inflation was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, food products like potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, meat, oil and fat,” it added.

“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August was 1.98 percent, this was a 0.07 percent decline compared to the rate recorded in July 2022 (2.04 percent).

“This decline is attributed to the reduction in prices of some food items like tubers, garri, local rice and vegetables.

“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve-month period ending August 2022 over the previous twelve-month average was 19.02 percent, which was a 1.48 percent decline from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2021 (20.50 percent).”

The report further analysed price movements for states, Anambra and Ondo were the highest.

“In August 2022, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kwara (30.80 percent), Ebonyi (28.06 percent) and Rivers (27.64 percent), while Jigawa (17.77 percent), Zamfara (18.79 percent) and Oyo (19.80 percent) recorded the slowest rise on year-on-year food inflation.

“On a month-on-month basis, however, August 2022 food inflation was highest in Anambra (3.05 percent), Ondo (2.92 percent) and Bauchi (2.78 percent), while Yobe (0.46 percent), Oyo (0.89 percent) and Delta (0.94 percent) recorded the slowest rise on month-on-month inflation.”