Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), on Tuesday reported that the country’s headline inflation rose by 32 basis points, the ninth consecutive monthly year-on-year rise, to 21.09% in October, compared to 20.77% in September. It was also 5.09% higher than the 15.99% rate recorded in October 2021.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation closed at 1.24%, 0.11% lower than the 1.36% reported in September 2021, the third straight MoM decline, in what the bureau said is attributable “to the present harvesting season, even as the percentage change in the average Consumer Price Index for the 12 months ending October 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 17.86%, showing a 0.91% increase, compared to the 16.96% recorded in October 2021.
Food inflation, however, rose by 39bps to 23.72% year-on-year, from 23.34% in September, triggered by increases in prices of staples such as Bread and cereals, Food products, Potatoes, yams and other tubers, oil and fat. MoM, food inflation settled at 1.23%, relative to the 1.43% m/m recorded in September.
Core inflation increased by 16bps to 17.76% yoy, compared to 17.60 in the preceding month, the highest since January 2017 (17.87% y/y), buoyed by the prices of gas, liquid fuel, Passenger transport by Air, Solid fuel, and vehicles spare parts.
Likely factors responsible for the year-on-year increase in annual inflation rate, the NBS said, include the “disruption in the supply of food products, increase in cost of importation due to the persistent currency depreciation, (and) a general increase in the cost of production e.g increase in energy cost.”
YoY also, urban inflation rate in October 2022 was 21.63%, 5.11% higher when compared to the 16.52% recorded in October 2021, while on a MoM basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.33% in October 2022, a 0.12% decline compared to 1.46% in September 2022.
On a state by state basis, all items inflation rate YoY in October 2022, was highest in Kogi at 25.15% one of the states seriously ravaged by flood in the period under review, followed by Bauchi’s 23.45%, and Ondo, 23.45%. The slowest headline inflation rate growth for the period was recorded in Plateau at 19.02%; followed by 19.31% in Borno, and 19.39%, Nasarawa.
The highest MoM increase was seen in Sokoto, 2.57%; Kebbi, 2.80%; and Abuja, 3.18%; even as the slowest growth were seen in Kwara, -0.14%; Kogi, 0.06%; and Oyo, 0.30%.
YoY food inflation in October 2022, peaked in Kwara at 30.79%; followed by neighbouring Kogi, 28.74%%; and Imo, 28.64%; while Kaduna recorded 19.96%; Plateau, 20.17%; and Jigawa, 20.42%, the slowest rise in YoY food inflation.
MoM, however, October 2022 food inflation was highest in Sokoto, 3.55%; Yobe, 3.31%; and Kebbi, 3.16%. The slowest rise MoM inflation was seen in Akwa Ibom, -0.21%, ahead of Kogi,-0.55%; and Kwara, -0.76%.
