Nigeria’s inflation rate rises to 21.47% in Nov, says NBS

Nigeria’s inflation rose to 21.47per cent in November from 21.09 per cent recorded in October, representing the 10th consecutively monthly increase since the start of the year.

The latest inflation report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigeria’s inflation rate has now risen to its highest level since September 2005 when the rate stood at 24.32per cent.

According to the NBS, the increase in the year-on-year inflation rate can be attributed to increase in cost of importation due to the persistent currency depreciation and general increase in the cost of production.

Food inflation, a closely watched indices, rose to 24.13 per cent in November 2022 from 23.72 per cent recorded in the previous month. The rise in food inflation was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, oil and fat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, food products, fish.

The “All items less farm produce’’ indices or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 18.24 per cent in November 2022 on a year-on-year basis.

This is a 48.52 basis points increase when compared to 17.76 per cent recorded in October 2022.

The highest increases in the core basket were recorded in prices of Gas, Liquid fuel, Passenger transport by Air, Vehicles spare parts, and Solid fuel.

Urban inflation: On a year-on-year basis, in November 2022, the urban inflation rate was 22.09 per cent, an increase compared to 21.63 per cent recorded in the previous month and 15.92 per cent recorded in the corresponding month of 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation index increased by 1.5 per cent. This is higher than the 1.33 recorded in the previous month and 1.12 per cent recorded in November 2021.

Rural inflation: The rural inflation rate in November 2022 was 20.88 per cent on a year-on-year basis; compared to 20.57 per cent recorded in October 2022 and 14.89 per cent recorded in November 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation index increase by 1.3 per cent. This is higher than the 1.16 per cent recorded in the previous month and 1.04 per cent recorded in November 2021.

States inflation: In terms of headline inflation, Ebonyi State recorded the highest rate at 26.11 per cent in November 2022, followed by Kogi and Rivers State with 25.84 per cent and 24.45 per cent respectively.

On the flip side, Sokoto (19.02 per cent) and Cross river (19.17 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in headline Year-on-Year inflation.

Kwara State led the list in terms of food inflation in November 2022 with 29.74 per cent, followed by Kogi State with 29.51 per cent and Ebonyi with 28.25 per cent.

Kaduna (19.30 per cent), Sokoto (19.48 per cent) and Jigawa (20.55 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in year-on-year food inflation.

The inflation rate is an important indicator, which shows the rate at which the prices of goods and services increase in the country at a given point in time. The Nigerian economy has seen its headline inflation rate increase for the 10th consecutive month, further eroding the purchasing power of the citizens.

The rising cost of goods and services has been attributed to the surge in energy prices, depreciation of the local currency at the black market (depreciated by 24 per cent year-to-date), imported inflation, and increased cash in circulation amongst other socio-economic issues in the domestic market.