Nigeria’s inflation rate drops to 32.15% in August 2024, says NBS

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures change in prices of goods and commodities declined to 32.15 per cent in August compared to 33.40 per cent in the preceding month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The NBS attributed the 1.25 per cent drop in the headline index to moderation in food and commodity prices.

According to the CPI figures for the review period, year-on- year, however, inflation was 6.35 per cent higher compared to 25.80 per cent in August 2023.

Month-on-month, headline inflation dropped to 2.22 per cent compared to 2.28 per cent in July.

The report stated that “on a year-on-year basis, August 2024 Urban inflation rate was 34.58per cent, this was 6.89perentagee points higher compared to the 27.69 per cent recorded in August 2023.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate was 2.39per cent in August 2024, this was 0.07percentage points lower compared to July 2024 (2.46per cent).

“The corresponding twelve-month average for the Urban inflation rate was 33.44per cent in August 2024. This was 9.98percentage points higher compared to the 23.46 per cent reported in August 2023.”

The Rural inflation rate in August 2024, according to NBS stood at 29.95per cent on a year-on-year basis; this was 5.85 per cent higher compared to the 24.10 per cent recorded in August 2023.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Rural inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.06 per cent, down by 0.04percentage points compared to July 2024 (2.10 per cent).

“The corresponding 12 months average for the Rural inflation rate in August 2024 was 29.32 per cent. This was 7.93 per cent higher compared to the 21.39 per cent recorded in August 2023,” it stated.

The report by NBS stated that food inflation rate in August 2024 was 37.52per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.18percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (29.34 per cent).

“The rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of the following items, Bread, Maize Grains, Guinea Corn, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tu-ber, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Palm Oil, Vegetable, etc (Oil & Fats Class) and Ovaltine, Milo, Lipton, etc (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class).

“On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.37 per cent which shows a 0.10 per cent decrease compared to the rate recorded in July 2024 (2.47 per cent). The fall can be attributed to the decline in the rate of increase in the average prices of Tobacco, Tea, Coco, Coffee, Groundnut Oil, Milk, Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, Palm Oil, Vegetable etc.

“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 36.99 per cent, which was 11.98percentage  points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2023 (25.01 per cent),” the report added.