Nigeria’s inflation rises to 33.69% as food prices soar

By Steve Agbota

Nigeria’s headline consumer inflation rose to a new 28-year high in April, hitting 33.69 per cent year-on-year, up from 33.20 per cent in March.

Data released on Wednesday by the National Bureau Statistics (NBS) showed that food and non-alcoholic beverages continued to be the biggest contributor to inflation in April.

Food inflation, which accounts for the bulk of the inflation basket, reached 40.53 per cent in annual terms, against 40.01 per cent in March.

The NBS said, “In April 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 33.69 per cent relative to the March 2024 headline inflation rate which was 33.20 per cent. Looking at the movement, the April 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.49 per cent points when compared to the March 2024 headline inflation rate. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.47 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in April 2023, which was 22.22 per cent. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in April 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., April 2023).”

Price pressures have left millions of Nigerians grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in decades as they struggle to meet their basic needs.

“On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in April 2024 was 2.29 per cent, which was 0.73 per cent lower than the rate recorded in March 2024 (3.02 per cent). This means that in April 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is less than the rate of increase in the average price level in March 2024,” the NBS concluded.