Nigerians in for a torrid time as inflation highest in 17 years

• Flooding will worsen inflationary trend

Information from Nigeria’s data agency has been unflattering. At 20.52 percent, inflation is highest in 17 years, says Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Added to the current massive flooding of many states particularly states regarded as the food basket of the country, Nigerians could face even worse inflation going into next year, thereby deepening the poverty across the country.

The flooding, which has been described as an overwhelming disaster, has led to the death of more than 600 people and 1.3million displaced, and 200,000 homes destroyed.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and commodities rose to 20.52 percent year-on-year in August, compared to 17.01 percent in 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed yesterday. The CPI rose to 19.64 percent in July 2022. NBC said the 3.52 percent rise indicated that the headline inflation rate increased in August 2022 when compared to the same month in the preceding year.

According to the CPI report for August 2022, food inflation stood at 23.12 percent on a year-on-year basis in the period under review, which was 2.82 percent higher than the 20.30 percent recorded in August 2021. However, core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile ag­ricultural produce stood at 17.20 percent year on year in August, up by 3.79 per cent when compared to 13.41 per cent recorded in August 2021.

The NBS said that the rise in food inflation was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, food product, pota­toes, yam, and other tubers, fish, meat, oil, and fat. Month-on-month, food inflation stood at 1.98 percent in August, representing 0.07 percent decline compared to the 2.04 per cent recorded in July. The core index recorded the highest increases in prices of gas, liquid fuel, solid fuel, passenger transport by road, passenger transport by air, fuel and lubricants for personal transport equipment, cleaning, repair, and hire of clothing.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation stood at 1.59 percent in August, down by 0.17 per cent when compared to 1.75 per cent recorded in the preceding month.

Also, year-on-year, the urban inflation rate stood at 20.95 per cent, which was 3.36 percent higher compared to 17.59 percent recorded in August 2021. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation stood at 1.79 percent in August, representing a 0.03 percent decline compared to 1.82 percent in July. On the other hand, the rural index year on year stood at 20.12 percent, representing 3.69 percent increase over the 16.43 percent recorded in the preceding year.

Also, month-on-month the rural inflation was 1.75 per cent, down by 0.06 per cent compared to 1.81 per cent in July. However, at state level, the inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Ebonyi (25.33 percent), Rivers (23.70 percent), and Bayelsa (23.01 percent).
On the other hand, Jigawa (17.30 percent), Borno (17.56 percent) and Zamfara (18.04 percent), recorded the slowest rise in headline inflation. Month-on-month, the highest increases were recorded in Anambra (2.78 percent), Ondo (2.53 percent), Nasarawa (2.40 percent), while Yobe (0.68 percent), Borno (0.84 percent) and Zamfara (0.98 percent) recorded the slowest rise in inflation.

Year-on-year, food inflation was highest in Kwara (30.80 percent), Ebonyi 28.06 (percent) and Rivers (27.64 percent). On the other hand, Jigawa (17.77 percent), Zamfara (18.79 percent) and Oyo (19.80 percent) recorded the slowest rise. Month-on-month, food inflation was highest in Anambra (3.05 percent), Ondo (2.92 percent) and Bauchi (2.78 percent), while Yobe (0.46 percent), Oyo (0.89 percent) and Delta 0.94 (percent) recorded the slowest rise.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.