The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported today that Nigeria’s year-on-year headline inflation rate climbed by 1.72 percentage points to reach 25.8 percent in August, up from 24.08 percent in July. This marks the seventh consecutive increase in inflation this year. The NBS stated this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for August, highlighting that the food inflation rate also experienced a year-on-year surge of 2.36 percentage points, rising to 29.34 percent in August compared to 26.98 percent in July. This escalation was attributed to higher prices in categories such as oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, fruit, meat, vegetables and potatoes, yam and other tubers, vegetable, milk, cheese, and eggs.
The NBS noted, “In August 2023, the headline inflation rate increased to 25.80% relative to the July 2023 headline inflation rate which was 24.08%. Looking at the movement, the August 2023 headline inflation rate shows an increase of 1.72 percentage points when compared to the July 2023 headline inflation rate. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.27 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2022, which was 20.52 percent. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in August 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., August 2022).”
“Similarly, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2023 was 3.18%, which was 0.29% points higher than the rate recorded in July 2023 (2.89%). This means that in August 2023, on average, the general price level was 0.29 percent higher relative to July 2023.”
Regarding food inflation, the bureau stated, “The Food inflation rate in August 2023 was 29.34% on a year-on-year basis, which was 6.22% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2022 (23.12%). The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, fruit, meat, vegetables and potatoes, yam and other tubers, vegetable, milk, cheese, and eggs. On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2023 was 3.87%, this was 0.41 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in July 2023 (3.45 percent). The rise in food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, oil and fat, coffee, tea, and cocoa.”
The NBS further pointed out that on a year-on-year basis, Kogi (31.50 percent), Lagos (29.17 percent), and Rivers (29.06 percent) registered the highest all items inflation rate, while Sokoto (20.91 percent), Borno (21.77 percent), and Nasarawa (22.25 percent) recorded the slowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis during the review period.