Emmanuel Ochayi
In a startling revelation, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed today that Nigeria’s inflation rate surged to a worrisome 25.80 percent in August, marking a significant uptick compared to the 24.08 percent recorded in July 2023.
NBS officials, while presenting the report, expressed their concerns about the inflation figures. One NBS representative stated, “The headline inflation rate shows an increase of 1.72 percentage points when compared to the July 2023 headline inflation rate, and on a year-on-year basis, it’s a staggering 5.27 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in August 2022, which was 20.52 percent.”
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe report further highlighted the alarming food inflation rate, which stood at 29.34 percent on a year-on-year basis in August 2023, a significant 6.22 percentage points higher than the same period in 2022.
The NBS attributed this increase to soaring prices of essential commodities, including oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, fruit, meat, vegetables, potatoes, yams, and other tubers, as well as dairy products.
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“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2023 was 3.87 percent, marking a 0.41 percentage point increase from July 2023,” the NBS added.
The situation isn’t much better when considering core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices. In August 2023, core inflation stood at a high of 21.15 percent on a year-on-year basis, up by a significant 4.03 percentage points compared to August 2022.
Key drivers of this increase included rising costs in passenger transport by air, passenger transport by road, medical services, vehicle spare parts, maintenance, and the repair of personal transport equipment.
Commenting on the data, an NBS spokesperson remarked, “On a month-on-month basis, the Core Inflation rate was 2.18 percent in August 2023, up from 2.11 percent in July 2023, a 0.07 percent increase. The average 12-month annual inflation rate was 19.18 percent for the 12 months ending August 2023, which is a significant 4.38 percent points higher than the 14.80 percent recorded in August 2022.”
