The country’s inflation rate is now at 28.9 %, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
This was disclosed in the NBS December 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI) which was released on Monday afternoon. The CPI measures the rate of change in the prices of foods and services. Before Monday’s release, the country’s inflation rate was at 28.20 as of November 2023.
“Looking at the movement, the December 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.72% points when compared to the November 2023 headline inflation rate,” the NBS wrote.
“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in December 2023 was 2.29%, which was 0.20% higher than the rate recorded in November 2023 (2.09%). This means that in December 2023, the rate of increase in the average price level is more than the rate of increase in the average price level in November 2023,” it added.
Food inflation also rose from 2.42% in November 2023 on a month-on-month basis to 2.72% in December of the same year. “On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in December 2023 was 2.72%, this was 0.30% higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2023 (2.42%),” the CPI report read.
“The rise in Food inflation on a Month-on-Month basis was caused by a rise in the rate of increase in the average prices of Oil and fat, Meat, Bread and Cereals, Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers, Fish and Milk, Cheese, and Egg. The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending December 2023 over the previous twelve-month average was 27.96%, which was a 7.02% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in December 2022 (20.94%).”
The rising rate of food inflation in Nigeria is coming over six months after President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food security.
“There must be an urgent synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands and to guarantee that food is produced all year round ” the President was quoted as saying then.
“We shall create and support a National Commodity Board that will review and continuously assess food prices as well as maintain a strategic food reserve that will be used as a price stabilisation mechanism for critical grains and other food items. Through this board, the government will moderate spikes and dips in food prices.”
