Business a.m.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released the latest inflation data for Nigeria, which revealed a marked increase in the headline inflation rate from 33.20 percent in March 2024 to 33.69 percent in April 2024, marking a rise of 0.49 percentage points in a single month.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ April 2024 inflation report, the headline inflation rate, on a year-on-year basis, recorded a 11.47 percentage point increase when compared to the April 2023 inflation rate of 22.22 percent, an indication that the cost of living in Africa’s most populous country has risen significantly within the past year.
Meanwhile, on a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate for April 2024 stood at 2.29 percent, a marginal 0.73 percent decrease from the previous month’s rate of 3.01 percent in March 2024. The comparatively smaller rate of price increase month-over-month suggests a slower rate of inflationary pressure in April 2024 compared to the previous month.
The CPI data for March 2024 continues to paint a sobering picture of the state of inflation in Nigeria. The percentage change in the average CPI over the past year, as measured from April 2023 to April 2024, stood at 28.10 percent. This represents a sharp 7.28 percent increase over the CPI recorded in April 2023, indicating a significant escalation of inflationary pressures over the past year.
The recent inflation report from the NBS also revealed startling figures in the urban CPI category, with year-on-year inflation rate in April 2024 reaching 36.00 percent. This represents a 12.61 percentage point increase from the 23.39 percent recorded in April 2023. On a month -on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.67 percent in April 2024, this was 0.50 percentage points lower compared to March 2024’s 3.17 percent. The corresponding twelve-month average for the urban inflation rate was 30.02 percent in April 2024. This was 8.53 percentage points higher compared to the 21.50 percent reported in April 2023.
The inflation report for April 2024 also shed light on the situation in the rural CPI category, which recorded a substantial year-on-year inflation rate of 31.64 percent, a 10.50 percentage point increase from the 21.14 per cent recorded in April 2023.Â
In contrast to the urban inflation rate, the rural inflation rate on a month-on-month basis saw a decrease of 0.95 percentage points in April 2024, down from 2.87 percent in March 2024 to 1.92 percent. The corresponding twelve-month average for the rural inflation rate in April 2024 was 26.38 percent. This was 6.20 percent higher compared to the 20.18 percent recorded in April 2023.
The inflationary pressures on the food sector in Nigeria continued to intensify in April 2024, with the year-on-year food inflation rate jumping to 40.53 percent. This represents a significant 15.92 percentage point increase from the already high 24.61 percent rate recorded in April 2023, signaling further deterioration in the affordability of basic foodstuffs for Nigerians.Â
The NBS attributed the rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis to increases in prices of the following items: Millet flour, garri, bread, wheat flour prepacked, semovita (which are under bread and cereals class), yam tuber, water yam, cocoyam (under potatoes, yam and other tubers class), coconut oil, palm kernel oil, vegetable oil, etc (under Oil and fat), dried fish sardine, catfish dried, mudfish dried (under fish class), beef head, beef feet, liver, frozen chicken (under meat class), mango, banana, grapefruit (under fruit class), Lipton tea, Bournvita, Milo (under coffee, tea and cocoa Class).Â
The fall in food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by a fall in the rate of increase in the average prices of yam, water yam, Irish potatoes (under potatoes, yam & other tubers Class), beer, local beer (under tobacco class), Milo, Bournvita, Nescafe (under coffee, tea, and cocoa class), groundnut oil, palm oil (under oil and fats class), egg, fresh milk, powdered milk, tin milk (under milk, cheese, and eggs Class), soft drinks e.g. Malt Guinness, Coca-cola, etc, spirit (local production), Chelsea, Seaman Schnapps (under spirit class), wine and fruit e.g., watermelon, pineapple, banana, pawpaw, etc.
The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve-month ending April 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 32.74 percent, which was a 9.52 percentage points increase from the 23.22 percent change recorded in April 2023.
The core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, continued to climb in April 2024, reaching 26.84 percent on a year-on-year basis. This represents a substantial 6.87 point increase compared to the 19.96 percent recorded in April 2023. The highest increases were recorded in prices of the following items: actual and imputed rentals for housing, journey by motorcycle, bus journey within a city (under Passenger Transport by Road Class), consultation fee of a medical doctor, X-ray photography etc (under Medical Services Class), and accommodation services.
On a month-on-month basis, the core Inflation rate was 2.20 percent in April 2024. It stood at 2.54 percent in March 2024, a decrease of 0.34 percent. The average twelve-month annual inflation rate was 22.84 percent for the twelve months ending April 2024. This was 5.15 percentage points higher than the 17.70 percent recorded in April 2023.
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