Nigeria’s inflation rate rises to 22.79% amid high food prices

By Abubakar Yunusa,y

The consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, rose to 22.79 percent in June 2023, up from 22.41 percent in the previous month.

The latest figure is the sixth consecutive rise in the country’s inflation rate this year.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) made this known in its CPI report for June 2023, released on Monday.

“In June 2023, the Headline inflation rate rose to 22.79% relative to May 2023 headline inflation rate which was 22.41%,” the report reads.

“Looking at the movement, the June 2023 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.38% points when compared to May 2023 headline inflation rate.

“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 4.19% points higher compared to the rate recorded in June 2022, which was 18.60%. This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in June 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., June 2022).

“On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in June 2023 was 2.13%, this was 0.19% points higher than the rate recorded in May 2023 (1.94%). This means that in June 2023, on average, the general price level was 0.19% higher relative to May 2023.”

The report also said food inflation rose to 25.25 percent in the month under review, an uptick compared to the 24.82 percent recorded in the preceding month.

The rise in the food index, NBS said, was caused by increases in prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fruits, meat, vegetable, milk, cheese, and eggs.

Sokoto, Zamfara and Borno residents paid less for food in the period under review, the NBS said.

“In June 2023, Food inflation on a year- on -year basis was highest in Kwara (30.80%), Lagos (30.37%), and Kogi (29.71%), while Zamfara (21.38%), Sokoto (21.60%) and Borno (21.75%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis,” the report reads.

“On a month-on-month basis, however, June 2023 Food inflation was highest in Kwara (3.82%), Abuja (3.64%), and Ogun (3.56%), while Rivers (0.75%), Zamfara (1.33%) and Adamawa (1.47%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation on a month-on-month basis.”

Last week, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food insecurity and identified measures to check food inflation and guarantee price stability.