NIGERIA’s annual inflation rate rose to 27.33 per cent in October from 26.72 per cent in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.
The statistics office said the October 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.61 per cent points when compared to the September 2023 headline inflation rate.
The NBS said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.24 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2022, which was (21.09 per cent).
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in October 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., October 2022),” it said.
According to the report, the food inflation rate in October quickened to 31.52 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 7.80 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2022 (23.72 per cent).
In recent years, food pieces have been on the rise across Nigeria. The situation deteriorated due to the impact of government policies such as the removal of subsidies on petrol, among others.
President Bola Tinubu, on 29 May, during his inauguration, announced the removal of subsidy on petrol. This development has caused hardship for many Nigerians with its attendant increase in the prices of goods and services.
Over the past months, the naira has depreciated by over 50 per cent at both the authorised and unauthorised market segments, after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced in June that it had collapsed all forex windows into the Investors and exporters (I&E) window.
Inflation has remained high in Africa’s largest economy, prompting the apex bank to hike interest rates to their highest levels in nearly two decades.
In July, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), raised its benchmark lending rate to 18.75 per cent.
The bank said, “hiking the interest rate has made a lot of difference in moderating the rate of inflation”.
It noted that the option to continue the hike in the policy rate, albeit moderately, also presented a strong alternative premised on the expected liquidity injections into the economy from the recent efforts to unify the nation’s foreign exchange markets.
In July, Mr Tinubu declared an immediate State of Emergency on food insecurity to tackle the increase in food prices.
He also directed that “all matters pertaining to food & water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council.”
Report
In its inflation report Wednesday, the NBS said the contributions of items on the divisional level to the increase in the headline index are food & non-alcoholic beverages (14.16 per cent), housing water, electricity, gas & other fuel (4.57 per cent), clothing & footwear (2.09 per cent), and transport (1.78 per cent).
Others are furnishings & household equipment & maintenance (1.37 per cent), education (1.08 per cent), health (0.82 per cent), miscellaneous goods & services (0.45 per cent), restaurant & hotels (0.33 per cent), alcoholic beverage, tobacco & kola (0.30 per cent), recreation & culture (0.19 per cent) and communication (0.19 per cent).
The report said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in October 2023 was 1.73 per cent, which was 0.37 per cent lower than the rate recorded in September 2023 (2.10 per cent).
“This means that in October 2023, the rate of increase in the average price level is less than the rate of increase in the average price level in September 2023.
“The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending October 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 23.44 per cent, showing a 5.57 per cent increase compared to 17.86 per cent recorded in October 2022,” the report said.
Food Inflation
The food inflation rate in October 2023 was 31.52 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 7.80 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2022 (23.72 per cent).
The bureau said the rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, oil and fat, 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 October 2023 was 1.91 per cent this was 0.54 per cent lower compared to the rate recorded in September 2023 (2.45 per cent),” it said.
According to the bureau, the decline in food inflation on a month-over-month basis was caused by the decline in the rate of increase in the average prices of fruits, oil and fat, coffee, tea and cocoa, bread and cereals.
“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending October 2023 over the previous twelve-month average was 26.33 per cent, which was a 6.50 per cent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in October 2022 (19.83 per cent),” the report highlighted.
