From Victor Osula, Abuja
Nigeria’s inflation has jumped to 32.70 percent in September from 32.15 percent recorded in August, reflecting an increase of 0.55%. the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation report released on Tuesday.
On a year-on-year basis, the rate was 5.98 percentage points higher than the 26.72% recorded in September 2023, indicating a significant increase in inflation over the past year.
Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.52%, 0.30% higher than the 2.22% recorded in August 2024. This indicates that the average price level increased at a faster rate in September, compared to August 2024.
The food inflation rate in September 2024 was 37.77% year-on-year, marking an increase of 7.13 percentage points from the 30.64% recorded in September 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in September 2024 stood at 2.64%, reflecting a 0.27% rise compared to the 2.37% recorded in August 2024.
This increase can be linked to the rising prices of items such as beer (local and foreign) in the tobacco class, vegetable oil, groundnut oil, and palm oil in the oil and fats class, as well as beef, gizzard, dried beef in the meat class, and products like Lipton, Milo, and Bournvita.
The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending in September 2024 was 37.53%, a 11.88 percentage point increase from the 25.65% recorded in September 2023.
Analysts had anticipated that the inflation slowdown observed in July and August might be temporary, especially following three petrol price hikes since early September, which have further strained citizens facing a severe cost-of-living crisis.
However, the Statistics office said inflation during the month was propelled by increases in transportation costs and food prices.
