Nigeria’s inflation rate slowed to 32.15% in August — NBS
Nigeria’s inflation rate has slowed for the second consecutive month, dropping from 34.19% in June to 33.40% in July, and further to 32.15% in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, the NBS noted that headline inflation eased to 32.15% in August 2024, with food inflation standing at 37.52% for the same period.
“Looking at the movement, the August 2024 headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.25% points when compared to the July 2024 headline inflation rate,” the NBS stated.
“However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (25.80%).
“On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.22%, which was 0.06% lower than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.28%). This means that in August 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in July 2024.”
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that the food inflation rate in August 2024 was 37.52% on a year-on-year basis, which is 8.18 percentage points higher than the 29.34% recorded in August 2023.
The NBS attributed the year-on-year increase in food inflation to rising prices of items such as bread, maize, grains, guinea corn, cereals, yam, Irish potatoes, water yam, cassava tuber, palm oil, and vegetable oil, among others.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation in August 2024 stood at 2.37%, reflecting a 0.10% decrease compared to the 2.47% recorded in July 2024.
The bureau noted that the monthly decline was driven by a slower rate of price increases in items like tobacco, tea, cocoa, coffee, groundnut oil, milk, yam, Irish potatoes, water yam, cassava tuber, and vegetable oil.
In August 2024, Sokoto (46.98%), Gombe (43.25%), and Yobe (43.21%) experienced the highest year-on-year food inflation rates, while Benue (32.33%), Rivers (33.01%), and Bayelsa (33.36%) saw the slowest increases.
On a month-on-month basis, Adamawa (5.46%), Kebbi (4.48%), and Borno (3.88%) recorded the highest food inflation rates, while Ogun (0.08%), Akwa Ibom (0.45%), and Sokoto (1.00%) experienced the smallest increases.