The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported an upsurge in headline inflation rate to 26.72 percent in September, relative to the 25.80 percent recorded in August 2023.
NBS in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which measures the inflation rate said, looking at the movement, the September 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.92% points when compared to the August 2023 headline inflation rate.
TheFact Daily reports that the current rate may further put pressure on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which has the target to achieve a single-digit inflation rate, and Nigerians whose salaries had been eroded by the previous rate.
The Bureau said, “on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.94% points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2022, which was 20.77%.
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in September 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., September 2022).
“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in September 2023 was 2.10%, which was 1.08% lower than the rate recorded in August 2023 (3.18%).
“This means that in September 2023, the rate of increase in the average price level was less than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2023”, NBS said.
It said, Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages contributed 13.84%, Housing Water, Electricity, Gas, and other Fuel contributed 4.47%, Clothing & Footwear contributed 2.04%, and Transport 1.74% in that order.
The Bureau said, the percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve-month period ending September 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 22.90%, showing a 5.47% increase compared to the 17.43% recorded in September 2022.
Food Inflation
The Food inflation rate in September 2023 was 30.64% on a year-on-year basis, which was 7.30% points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2022 (23.34%).
The rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of Oil and fat, Bread and cereals, Potatoes, Yam and other Tubers, Fish, Fruit, Meat, Vegetables and Milk, Cheese, and Eggs.
On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in September 2023 was 2.45%, this was 1.41% lower compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (3.87%).
The decline in Food inflation on a Month-on-Month basis was caused by a fall in the rate of increase in the average prices of Potatoes, Yam and other tubers, Bread and cereals, Fruits, and Fish.
The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending September 2023 over the previous twelve-month average was 25.65%, which was 6.29% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in September 2022 (19.36%)
Urban Inflation
On a year-on-year basis, in September 2023, the Urban inflation rate was 28.68%, this was 7.43% points higher compared to the 21.25% recorded in September 2022.
On a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate was 2.24% in September 2023, this was 1.05% points lower compared to August 2023 (3.29%). The corresponding twelve-month average for the Urban inflation rate was 24.10% in September 2023. This was 6.16% points higher compared to the 17.94% reported in September 2022.
Rural Inflation
The Rural inflation rate in September 2023 was 24.94% on a year-on-year basis; this was 4.62% points higher compared to the 20.32% recorded in September 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the Rural inflation rate in September 2023 was 1.96%, down by 1.12% points compared to August 2023 (3.08%).
The corresponding twelve-month average for the Rural inflation rate in September 2023 was 21.79%. This was 4.85% higher compared to the 16.94% recorded in September 2022.
