Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Rises To 34.6%

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown that Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 34.6 per cent in November up from 33.8 per cent in October.

In its consumer price index report for November published on Monday, NBS said the rate represents an increase of 0.72 per cent compared to the October 2024 rate.

“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 6.40% points higher than the rate recorded in November 2023 (28.20%),” the bureau said.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in November 2024 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., November 2023).

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in November 2024 was 2.638%, which was 0.002% points lower than the rate recorded in October 2024 (2.640%).

“This means that in November 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is slightly lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in October 2024.”

The Bureau also noted that the food inflation rate in November 2024 was 39.93 per cent on a year-on-year basis, seven per cent higher than the 32.84 per cent rate recorded in November 2023.

“The rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of the following items; Yam, Water Yam, Coco Yam, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Guinea Corn, Maize Grains, Rice, etc (Bread and Cere-als Class), Beer, Pinto (Tobacco Class), and Palm Oil, Vegetable Oil, etc (Oil and Fats Class),” NBS said.

However, on a month-on-month basis, the bureau said the food inflation rate in November 2024 was 2.98 per cent, indicating a 0.05 per cent points increase compared to the 2.94 per cent rate recorded in October 2024.

For state analysis, the Bureau said the food inflation rate rose the highest in Bauchi (46.21 per cent), Kebbi (42.41 per cent), and Anambra (40.48 percent).

Other states like Delta (26.47 per cent), Benue (28.98 per cent), and Katsina (29.57 per cent) spent the lowest on food in November on a year-on-year basis.

The NBS reported that Yobe (5.14 per cent), Kebbi (5.10 per cent), and Anambra (4.88 per cent) experienced the highest month-on-month food inflation, while Adamawa (0.95 per cent), Osun (1.12 per cent), and Kogi (1.29 per cent) saw the slowest increases.

“The rise is attributed to the rate of increase in the average prices of Mudfish, Catfish Dried, Dried Fish Sadine, etc (Fish Class), Rice, Yam Flour, Millet Whole grain, Corn flour, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Agric Egg, Powered Milk, Fresh Milk, etc (Milk, cheese and eggs Class) and Dried Beef, Goat Meat, Frozen Chicken, etc (Meat Class),” the Bureau said.

“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending November 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 38.67%, which was 11.58% points higher compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in November 2023 (27.09%).”