Nigeria’s inflation hits new record in 24 years

Nigeria’s inflation figure has continued its increasing pace, posting a 28.92 percent rise in December 2023.

In a report released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), it stated that in December 2023, the headline inflation rate increased to 28.92 percent relative to the November 2023 headline inflation rate which was 28.20 percent.

It said the movement showed marginal increase of 0.72 points when compared to the November 2023 headline inflation rate.

“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 7.58 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2022, which was 21.34 percent. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in December 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., December 2022).”

For, on a month-on-month basis, the NBS noted that the headline inflation rate in December 2023 was 2.29 percent, which was 0.20 percent higher than the rate recorded in November 2023 (2.09 percent).

“This means that in December 2023, the rate of increase in the average price level is more than the rate of increase in the average price level in November 2023.”

It added that Food inflation rate in December 2023 was 33.93 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 10.18 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2022 (23.75 percent).

It said the rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, oil and fat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, meat, fruit, milk, cheese, and egg.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in December 2023 was 2.72 percent, this was 0.30 percent higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2023 (2.42 percent). The rise in Food inflation on a Month-on-Month basis was caused by a rise in the rate of increase in the average prices of oil and fat, meat, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam & other tubers, fish and milk, cheese, and egg.”

“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending December 2023 over the previous twelve-month average was 27.96 percent, which was a 7.02 percent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in December 2022 (20.94 percent).”