By Clara Nwachukwu
Skyrocketing food prices pushed Nigeria’s annual headline inflation rate to 29.90% in January from 28.92% in December 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) .
NBS in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released yesterday, said the rate of rise showed an increase of 0.98% points when compared to the December 2023 headline inflation rate.
“Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 8.08% points higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2023, which was 21.82%.
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in January 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., January 2023).
“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in January 2024 was 2.64%, which was 0.35% higher than the rate recorded in December 2023 (2.29%).
“This means that in January 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is more than the rate of increase in the average price level in December 2023,” the CPI report said.
Food Inflation
According to the CPI report, food inflation rate in January 2024 accelerated to 35.41% year-on-year, or 11.10% points above the 24.32% recorded in January 2023.
The Bureau said: “The food inflation rate in January 2024 was 35.41% on a year-on-year basis, which was 11.1 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2023 (24.32%).
“The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, oil and fat, fish, meat, fruit, coffee, tea, and cocoa.
“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in January 2024 was 3.21%; this was 0.49 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2023 (2.72 per cent).
“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending January 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 28.91% which was a 7.38 percentage point increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in January 2023 (21.53%).
“In January 2024, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi (44.18%), Kwara (40.87%), and Rivers (40.08%), while Bauchi (28.83%), Adamawa (29.8%) and Kano (30.08%) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.”
Protests had broken out in different parts of Nigeria in reaction to the high cost of food items with citizens demanding solutions to the economic hardship.
This development forced the Federal Government last week Thursday to order the immediate release of 102,000 metric tonnes of rice, maize, millet and garri from government reserves and stores of the rice millers to the Nigerian market to swiftly address the high cost of food items in the country.
The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, oil and fat, fish, meat, fruit, coffee, tea, and cocoa.
Sectoral contributions
The report further said the contributions of items on the divisional year-on-year level to the increase in the headline index are food & non-alcoholic beverages (15.49%), housing water, electricity, gas & other fuel (5.00%), clothing & footwear (22.29%), and transport (1.95%).
Others are furnishings & household equipment & maintenance (1.50%), education (1.18%), health (0.90%), miscellaneous goods & services (0.50 per cent), restaurant & hotels (0.36%), alcoholic beverage, tobacco & kola (0.33%), recreation & culture (0.21%) and communication (0.20%).
The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve-month ending January 2024 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 25.35%, a 5.99% increase over the 19.36% recorded in January 2023.
Urban inflation
On a year-on-year basis, in January 2024, the Urban inflation rate was 31.95%, this was 9.40% points higher compared to the 22.55% recorded in January 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate was 2.72% in January 2024, this was 0.30% points higher compared to December 2023 (2.42%).
The corresponding twelve-month average for the Urban inflation rate was 27.01% in January 2024. This was 7.10 % points higher compared to the 19.91% reported in January 2023.
Rural inflation
The Rural inflation rate in January 2024 was 28.10% on a year-on-year basis; this was 6.97% higher compared to the 21.13% recorded in January 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, the Rural inflation rate in January 2024 was 2.57%, up by 0.40% points compared to December 2023 (2.17%).
The corresponding twelve-month average for the Rural inflation rate in January 2024 was 23.85%. This was 5.01% higher compared to the 18.84% recorded in January 2023.
