Nigeria’s June CPI Drops To 11.22%, As Food, Core Inflation In Marginal Slip

Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index (nflation) for the month of June 2019 dropped by a marginal 0.18% to 11.22% from the previous month’s 11.40%, helped by the drop in food and core inflation.
Helped by the slip in food inflation 13.56%, from 13.79% in May 2019; at 8.80% in June 2019, core inflation fell from 9.00%. Food inflation was driven by increased in the prices of bread and cereals, meat, oils and fats, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, vegetables and fruits, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Monday, July 15, 2019.
MoM, the food sub-index increased by 1.36% in June 2019, down by 0.05% points from 1.41% recorded in May 2019, just as the average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending June 2019 over the previous 12-month average was 13.42%, 0.05 percent points higher from the average 13.37% annual rate of change recorded in May.
Month-on-month, the Headline index rose 1.07% up in June, representing 0.04% decline from 1.11% recorded in May 2019; following which percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ending June 2019 over the average of the previous 12 months period was 11.29%, similar to the 11.29% recorded in May 2019.
The urban inflation rate increased by 11.61% year-on-year in June 2019, from 11.76% recorded in May 2019, while the rural inflation rate climbed 10.87% up in June 2019 from 11.08% in May 2019.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban index inched 1.10% up in June 2019, 0.05% up from 1.15% in May 2019, while the rural index also rose by 1.05% in June 2019, up by 0.02 from the 1.07% recorded in May 2019.
The ”All items less farm produce” or Core inflation, which excludes prices of volatile agricultural produce, for the period under review, stood at 8.8% in June 2019, compared to 9% recorded in May 2019.
Also, on MoM basis, core sub-index increased by 0.85% in June 2019, when compared with 0.75% recorded in May, with the highest increases recorded in “prices of Medical and hospital services, Cleaning, repair and hire of clothing, Repair and hire of footwear, Repair of household appliances, Actual and imputed rentals for housing, Major household appliances whether electronic or not and Tobacco.”
The average 12-month annual rate of change of the index was 9.64%; which was 0.13% points lower than 9.77% recorded in May 2019.
In the period under review, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kaduna at 17.50%, followed by Kebbi, 16.96%, and Ondo, 16.44%, but slowest in Kogi, which recorded 9.81%; followed by Bayelsa, 9.97%; Abia, 10.84%.
MoM, however, June 2019 food inflation was highest in Kogi at 3.20%; Rivers, 2.96%; and Osun, 2.58%; while the slowest rise was recorded in Kaduna, 0.26%; Yobe, 0.33%; and Anambra, 0.47%.