Victor EzejaNigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 33.69 percent in April 2024, recording a 28-year high. This upward spiral which is for the 18th straight month, reflects a 0.49 per cent increase when compared to the March 2024 inflation rate of 33.20 per cent.
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.47 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in April 2023, which was 22.22 per cent.
This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in the month of April 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., April 2023).
On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in April 2024 was 2.29 per cent, which was 0.73 per cent lower than the rate recorded in March 2024 (3.02 per cent). “This means that in the month of April 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is less than the rate of increase in the average price level in March 2024,” the NBS CPI and Inflation report for April released on Wednesday revealed.
The percentage change in the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the twelve months ending April 2024 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 28.10 per cent, showing a 7.28 per cent increase compared to 20.82 per cent recorded in April 2023.
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Food Inflation
Food inflation rate in April 2024 rose to 40.53 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, it was 15.92 per cent points higher compared to 24.61 per cent recorded in April 2023. According to the report the year-on-year spike in food inflation rate was due to increases in prices of the following items: Millet flour, Garri, Bread, Wheat Flour prepacked, Semovita, Yam Tuber, Water Yam, and cocoyam. Others are Coconut Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Vegetable Oil, Dried Fish Sadine, Catfish Dried, Mudfish Dried, Beef, Liver, Frozen Chicken, Mango, Banana, Grapefruit (under Fruit Class), Lipton Tea, Bournvita, Milo.
On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in April 2024 was 2.50 per cent which shows a 1.11 per cent decrease compared to the rate recorded in March 2024 (3.62 per cent). The report attribute the drop in Food inflation on a Month-on-Month basis to a fall in the rate of increase in the average prices of Yam, Irish Potatoes, Beer, Milo, Bournvita, Nescafe, Groundnut Oil, Palm Oil, Egg, Milk, Soft Drinks e.g. Malt Guinness, Coco-cola, etc, Spirit, Wine and Fruit e.g., Water Melon, Pineapple, Banana, Pawpaw, etc.
Urban Inflation
On a year-on-year basis, the Urban inflation rate was 36 per cent in the month of April 2024. This was 12.61 per cent points higher compared to the 23.39 per cent recorded in April 2023. On a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate was 2.67 per cent in April 2024, a 0.5 per cent points lower compared to March 2024 (3.17 per cent).
Rural Inflation
On the hand Rural inflation rate in April 2024 was 31.64 per cent on a year-on-year basis. This was 10.50 per cent higher compared to the 21.14 per cent recorded in April 2023. On a month-on-month basis, the Rural inflation rate in April 2024 was 1.92 per cent, down by 0.95 per cent points compared to March 2024 (2.87 per cent).
Inflation Rates By States
The NBS report indicated that Kogi State recorded the highest inflation rate of 40.84 per cent on a year-on-year basis. This was followed by Bauchi (39.91%), Oyo (38.37%), while Borno (26.09%), Benue (27.53%) and Taraba (28.69%) recorded the slowest rise in Headline inflation on year-on-year basis.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
