By Maryam Abeeb
The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has disclosed that Nigeria’s food inflation rose to 33.93 per cent in December 2023, from 32.83 per cent recorded in November
This was made known in its Consumer Price Index, CPI, report for December 2023.
This represents a 2.72 per cent increase, compared to the figure recorded in November
The report indicated a 10.18 per cent increment compared to the rate recorded in the corresponding period in 2022.
The food inflation on a Month-on-Month basis was caused by a rise in the average prices of Oil and fat, Meat, Bread and Cereals, Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers, Fish and Milk, as well as Cheese and Egg.
According to the report , headline Inflation also hit 28.92% in December 2023,
The figure represents the twelve consecutive times the country’s inflation soared in 2023.
Looking at the movement, the December 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.72 percent points when compared to the November 2023 headline inflation rate.
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 7.58 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2022, which was 21.34 per cent.
This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in December 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., December 2022).
Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in December 2023 was 2.29 per cent, which was 0.20 per cent higher than the rate recorded in November 2023 (2.09 per cent). This means that in December 2023, the rate of increase in the average price level is more than the rate of increase in the average price level in November 2023.
Although , recently the Federal Government has assured that plans are underway to reduce food inflation in the country.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, stated this when Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
He said that the ministry’s goal included ensuring food security and driving down food inflation.
We also intend to massively produce to bring down food inflation because today the number one driver of inflation is food price inflation,” he said.
Kyari maintained that President Bola Tinubu’s agenda on food security is on course.
He said that programmes on food production would be sustained in 2024 to have a positive impact on Nigerians.
