Food inflation remains high despite overall easing – NBS report

By Ezekiel David

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that in August 2024, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate decreased slightly from 33.40% in July 2024 to 32.15%. The trend signals optimism in the face of ongoing inflationary pressures, as it is the second consecutive month that inflation has fallen.

In spite of the slight drop, the August 2024 inflation rate remains significantly higher than the 25.80% recorded in August 2023, indicating a substantial year-on-year increase of 6.35 percentage points. Month-on-month inflation stood at 2.22%, slightly lower than July’s 2.28%, suggesting a slower pace of price increases.

Food inflation continued to be a key driver, rising from 29.34% in August 2023 to 37.52% year over year in August 2024. Food inflation dropped slightly month over month to 2.37% from 2.47% in July 2024.

Core inflation, which does not include erratic food and energy prices, continued to be high at 27.58% year over year, up 6.43 percentage points from August 2023. Notable price increases were noted in the NBS study for things like rent, transportation, lodging services, and medical costs.

Urban inflation reached 34.58% year-on-year, while rural inflation stood at 29.95%, both showing significant increases compared to August 2023. Month-on-month, urban inflation eased slightly to 2.39%, while rural inflation decreased to 2.06%.

(Source: Nairametrics)