Nigeria’s inflation jumps to 21.82% in January

By Onome Amuge

Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 21.82 per cent in January 2023 , a significant increase of 0.47 percentage points compared to 21.34  per cent recorded in the previous month of  December 2022, according to the latest  Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) .

Similarly, the headline inflation rate was 6.22 percentage  points higher year-on-year against 15.60 per cent recorded in December 2021, indicating an annual increase  when compared to the same month in the preceding year of January 2022.

The NBS attributed the increase in the headline index to a rise in class basis of items such as; bread and cereal which stood at 21.67 per cent, actual and imputed Rent (7.74%), Potatoes, Yam and Tuber (6.06%), Vegetable (5.44%), and Meat (4.78%).

The report which measured the rate of changes in prices of goods and services,further showed that  the percentage change in the All Items Index in January 2023 was 1.87 per cent, 0.15 per cent  above 1.71 per cent recorded in December 2022.

This, according to the national statistics agency, indicates that in the month of January 2023, the general price level was 0.15 per cent higher relative to December 2022.

Also, the percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending January 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 19.36 per cent, indicating 2.49  per cent increase compared to the 16.87 per cent recorded in January 2022 . The increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yielded the headline index, according to the NBS report.

The NBS also noted that the food inflation rate jumped to 24.32 per cent in the month under review from 23.75  per cent in December. The surge was  attributed to an increase in the prices of some food items like Oil and Fat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, yam & tubers, etc.

Meanwhile, the “All items less farm produce’’ index or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 19.16 per cent inJanuary, compared to the 18.49 per cent recorded in the previous month. The NBS noted that the highest increases were recorded in prices of gas, liquid fuel, passenger transport by air, vehicles spare parts, fuels, and lubricants for personal transport equipment, solid fuel, etc.