By Afolabi Samuel Odunayo
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported an increase in Nigeria’s headline inflation rate, which rose by 0.24 percentage points to 34.19% in June 2024. This is a dramatic increase from 33.95% in May.
The latest figures were disclosed on Monday in the NBS’s Consumer Price Index for June 2024.
According to the report, food inflation also saw a rise, escalating to 40.87% in June from 40.66% in May. According to NBS, this increase was driven by higher prices for items such as millet, garri, guinea corn, yams, water yams, and coco yams.
The NBS stated: “In June 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 34.19% relative to the May 2024 headline inflation rate, which was 33.95%. This shows an increase of 0.24 percentage points when compared to May 2024.”
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was reported to be 11.4 percentage points higher than in June 2023, which recorded an inflation rate of 22.79%.
“This indicates that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year) increased in June 2024 compared to the same month in the previous year,” the NBS noted.
On a Month-on-month, the headline inflation rate in June 2024 was 2.31%, 0.17 percentage points higher than the 2.14% recorded in May 2024. “This means that in June 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than in May 2024,” the NBS explained.
Regarding food inflation, the NBS reported: “The food inflation rate in June 2024 was 40.87% on a year-on-year basis, 15.62 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in June 2023, which was 25.25%. This rise in food inflation was due to increases in the prices of millet, garri, guinea corn, yams, water yams, coco yams, groundnut oil, palm oil, dried fish, and other items.”
Similarly, on a Month-on-month, food inflation in June 2024 was 2.55%, a 0.26 percentage point increase from May 2024’s 2.28%.
The rise was attributed to the increased prices of groundnut oil, palm oil, water yams, coco yams, cassava, and various fish products.
The NBS highlighted regional variations in food inflation rates. On a year-on-year basis, Edo (47.34%), Kogi (46.37%), and Cross River (45.28%) experienced the highest food inflation. Conversely, Nasarawa (34.31%), Bauchi (34.78%), and Adamawa (35.96%) saw the slowest increases.
On Month-on-month, Yobe (4.75%), Adamawa (4.74%), and Taraba (4.12%) recorded the highest food inflation rates. Nasarawa (0.14%), Kano (0.96%), and Lagos (1.25%) had the slowest rises in food inflation, respectively.
