The general prices of goods and services in Nigeria, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) soared by 11.61% in the month of October, the highest since May 2018, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
The year-on-year rise in inflation represented a 0.36% growth over the 11.24% reported in September 2019, with significant increase seen in
On a year on year basis, the food inflation index rose by 14.09%, compared to 13.51% in September “caused by increases in prices of Meat, Oils and fats, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam, and other tubers, fish and vegetables.
Growth in the average composite CPI for the 12-month period ending October 2019
over the average of the previous year was 11.3%, up marginally from 11.27% recorded in September.
The report was however silent on the impact of the government’s continued closure of Nigeria’s land borders with immediate neighbours since August, in a bid to combat the perennial smuggling of staples such as staples, particularly rice and frozen poultry products.
Food sub-index for the month increased by 1.33%, up by 0.03% from 1.3% in September 2019, while the average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the was 13.54%, equivalent to 0.07% points higher than the 13.47% average annual rate of change recorded in the prior month.
The urban inflation rate for the period climbed from 11.78% year-on-year in September, to 12.2%, while the rural inflation rate was stood at 11.07% in October, from 10.77% in September 2019.
Month-on-month also, the urban index rose by 1.15% in October 2019, from 1.13% in the prior month, while the rural index grew by 0.99% in October from the 0.96% recorded in September 2019
“The ”All items less farm produce” or Core inflation rate, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 8.88% in October 2019 on a year-on-year basis, slower by -0.07% points when compared with 8.94% recorded in September 2019,” the NBS stressed.
On a state-by-state basis, in the period under review, all items inflation rate year-on-year was highest in Kebbi at15.20%, followed by the 13.97% recorded in Bauchi, while Ondo posted 13.74%
Headline inflation growth was slowest for the period in Bayelsa, 9.07%; Katsina, 9.29%; and Kwara, 9.69%.
Food inflation YoY in October 2019 was highest in Kebbi, 17.53%; ahead of Ondo, 17.01%; and Ogun, 17.00%; recording the slowest rise in Bayelsa, 9.55%; Katsina, 11.18%; and Kogi, 12.12%.