Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Rises To 22.41%

Nigeria’s inflation rate has increased to 22.41%, a new two-decade high.

According to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, June 15, the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in the prices of goods and services, increased by 0.19 percentage points from the 22.22 per cent recorded in April, when inflation reached an 18-year high.

According to the report, Nigeria’s year-on-year inflation increased by 4.70% from 17.71% in May 2022.

The report read: “In May 2023, the headline inflation rate increased to 22.41 per cent relative to April 2023 headline inflation rate which was 22.22 per cent.

“Looking at the movement, the May 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.19 per cent points when compared to April 2023 headline inflation rate. Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 4.70 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in May 2022, which was (17.71 per cent).”

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According to the NBS, the average price of products increased by 0.3%. It also claimed that the percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending May 2023 over the previous twelve-month period was 21.20 per cent, representing a 4.75 per cent increase over the 16.45 per cent recorded in May 2022.

In May 2023, the annual rate of food inflation was 24.82 per cent. This is 5.33 percentage points higher than the May 2022 figure (19.50 per cent).

According to the NBS, the increase in food inflation was caused by hikes in prices of oil and fat, yam and other tubers, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, fruits, meat, vegetables, and spirit.

The report added: “On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in May 2023, was 2.19 per cent, this was 0.06 per cent higher compared to the rate recorded in April 2023 (2.13 per cent).

“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve-months ending May 2023 over the previous twelve-month average was 23.65 per cent, which was a 4.97 per cent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in May 2022 (18.68 per cent).

“On a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Ondo (25.84 per cent), Kogi (25.70 per cent), Rivers (25.02 per cent); while Taraba (19.55 per cent), Sokoto (19.56 per cent), and Plateau (19.89 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in headline inflation.”