BREAKING: Nigeria’s Inflation Hits 21.47%, Highest Since 2005

By Christy Animam

As high cost of goods and consumption continue upward movement in the country, Nigeria’s inflation has again risen for the tenth consecutive month to hit 21.47% in November, 2022 from 21.09% recorded in October.

A cursory look at the report showed that Nigeria’s inflation rate has now risen to its highest level since September 2005 when the rate stood at 24.32%.

This is contained in the latest consumer price index (CPI) report released today by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which further ascribed the development to certain factors.

According to the NBS, the increase in the year-on-year inflation rate can be attributed to increase in cost of importation due to the persistent currency depreciation and general increase in the cost of production.

On a monthly basis however, the NBS ascribed the increase to the sharp increase in demand usually experience during the festive season.

Food Inflation

Again, food inflation is a major culprit to the inflation spike as it rose to 24.13% in November 2022 from 23.72% recorded in the previous month.

The rise in food inflation was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, oil and fat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, food products, fish.

The “All items less farm produce’’ indices or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 18.24% in November on a year-on-year basis. This is a 48.52 basis points increase when compared to 17.76% recorded in October 2022.

Urban Inflation

On a year-on-year basis, in the month of November 2022, the urban inflation rate was 22.09%, this was 6.17% higher compared to the 15.92% recorded in November 2021. On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.50% in November 2022, which was 0.16% higher compared to 1.33% in October.

The corresponding twelve-month average for the urban inflation rate was 18.90% in November, 1.35% higher compared to the 17.55% reported in November 2021.

Rural Inflation

According to the NBS data, the rural inflation rate in the month under review, November 2022 stood at 20.88% on a year-on-year basis; 5.99% higher compared to 14.89% recorded in November 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in November was 1.30%, up by 0.14% compared to 1.16% October 2022.

Meanwhile, the corresponding twelve-month average for the rural inflation rate in November  was 17.88%. This was 1.46% higher compared to the 16.42% recorded in November 2021.