HThe National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that Nigeria’s headline inflations rose to 25.80% in August 2023 in comparison to the inflation rate of July, 2023 which was 24.08%. This shows an increase of 1.72% points when compared to the July 2023 inflation rate.
Accordingly, inflation rate increased by 5.27% on a year-on-year basis, when compared to the inflation rate recorded in August, 2022, which was 20.52%.
Also, on a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate in August 2023 was 3.18%, which was 0.29% points higher than the rate of 2.89% recorded in July 2023. This simply means that in August 2023, on the average, the general price level was 0.29% higher relative to July 2023.
There was also a percentage change of 22.38% in the average CPI for the twelve-month period ending August 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period. This shows a 5.31% increase compared to 17.07% recorded in August 2022.
The urban inflation rate on a year-on-year basis for August 2023 was 27.69%, showing an increase of 6.73% in contrast to that of August 2022 which was 20.95%. The urban Inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was 3.29% in August 2023, this was 0.24% higher compared to 3.05% in July 2023.
The corresponding twelve-month average for the urban inflation rate was 23.46% in August 2023. This was 5.87% higher compared to the 17.59% reported in August 2022.
Similarly, the rural inflation rate in August 2023 was 24.10% on a year-on-year basis as this was 3.98% higher in contrast to 20.12% recorded in August 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in August 2023 was 3.08% which was an increase of 0.34% compared to 2.74% in July 2023. The corresponding twelve-month average for the rural inflation rate in August 2023 was 21.39%. This was a 4.81% increase when compared to the 16.58% recorded in August 2022.
Also, the food inflation rate, on a year-on-year basis for August 2023 was 29.34% which was a 6.22% increment in contrast to the 23.12% rate recorded in August 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2023 was 3.87%, this was 0.41% higher, compared to 3.45% recorded in July 2023.
The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2023 over the previous twelve-month average was 25.01%, which was 5.99% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2022 (19.02%).
According to NBS, the food inflation rate continued rising as a result of the increase in the prices of food items such as yam, meat, fruits and many others.
“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” NBS said.
