Nigeria’s inflation rate hits 21.09%

Nigeria’s inflation rate hit a 17-year high of 21.09% in October 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

This is an increase of 0.32% from the 20.77% recorded in September.

The NBS made this known in its October 2022 Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Tuesday, November 15.

The CPI measures the rate of change in the prices of goods and services.

According to the NBS CPI report, food inflation also rose sharply to 23.72% in the month under review from 23.34% in the previous month, while the inflation rate under- index jumped to 17.76% against 17.6% recorded in September 2022.

The report reads: “In October 2022, on an annual basis, the headline inflation rate was 21.09%. This was 5.09% points higher than the rate recorded in October 2021. , which was 15.99%.This shows that the general price level for the headline inflation rate increased in October 2022 compared to the same month of the previous year (i.e. October 2021 ) by 5.09%.

“On a monthly basis, the headline inflation rate for October 2022 was 1.24%, 0.11% lower than the rate recorded in September 2022 (1.36%). This means that in October 2022 , the general price level for the headline inflation rate (on a monthly basis) decreased by 0.11%.

“The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending October 2022 compared to the average for the previous twelve months was 17.86%, showing an increase of 0.91% compared to the 16 .96% recorded in October 2021.”

According to the NBS, the likely factors for the year-on-year increase are: disruption in food supply, increased import cost due to continued currency depreciation, and a general increase in the price of production, for example increase in the cost of energy.

The BNS said that in October 2022, the inflation rate on all items on an annual basis was highest in Kogi (25.15%), Bauchi (23.45%), Ondo (23.45%) ), while Plateau (19.02%), Borno (19.31%) and Nasarawa (19.39%) recorded the lowest increase in headline inflation year-on-year.

On a monthly basis, however, October 2022 saw the highest increases in Abuja (3.18%), Kebbi (2.80%), Sokoto (2.57%), while Kwara (-0.14%) , Kogi (0.06%) and Oyo (0.30%) recorded the smallest rise in inflation month-on-month.

The food inflation rate in October 2022 was 23.72% on an annual basis; which was 5.39% higher than the rate recorded in October 2021 (18.34%).

The BNS attributed the rise in food inflation to an increase in the price of cereals and bread, potatoes, yams and other foodstuffs.

In October, monthly food inflation stood at 1.23%, down 0.21% from the rate recorded in September 2022 (1.43%). This decline was attributed to lower prices for certain foods such as beans, tubers, palm oil and vegetables.