Nigeria’s Inflation Hits 31.70% As Food Costs Bite Harder

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate hit a record high of 31.70 per cent in February 2024.

This is an increase of 1.80 per cent from 29.90 per cent recorded in January 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) latest CPl and inflation report released on Friday.

The report indicates that in February 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level was more than the rate of increase in the average price level in January 2024.

“ln February 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 31.70 percent relative to the January 2024 headline inflation rate which was 29.90 per cent,” part of the report said.

On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 9.79 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023, which was 21.91 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, the February 2024 headline inflation rate of 3.12 per cent was 0.48 per cent higher than January 2024’s rate of 2.64nper cent
per cent.

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Food inflation

In February 2024, the food inflation rate soared to 37.92 per cent year-on-year, a significant 13.57 percentage point increase from February 2023’s rate of 24.35 per cent

On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in February 2024 was 3.79 per cent. This was 0.58 per cent higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2024 (3.21 per cent).

The report attributed the surge in food inflation to a rise in the average prices of Bread and Cereals, Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers, Fish, Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa.

“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending February 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 30.07%, which was a 7.95% points increase
from the average annual rate of change recorded in February 2023(22.12%),” it added.

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