Nigeria’s Headline inflation rate or Consumer Price Index (CPI) sustained its upward trend in October 2024, , rising to 33.88% relative to the 32.70% headline inflation rate recorded in the preceding month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported today.
The statistics agency in its ‘CPI and Inflation Report October 2024’ revealed that the October 2024 Headline inflation rate increased by 1.18% points compared to the September 2024 CPI rate.
It clarified that on a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 6.55% points higher than the 27.33% rate recorded in October 2023, indicating that on year-on-year basis, the CPI increased in the month under review when compared to the corresponding month’s rate last year.
Similarly, the Bureau reported that on a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in October 2024 was 2.64%, which was 0.12% higher than the 2.52% rate recorded in the preceding month.
According to the report, the increase in the headline index for October is mainly attributed by the NBS to the rise in the average price of some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level, particularly in Food and non-alcoholic Beverages (17.55%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & other Fuel (5.67%), Clothing & Footwear (2.59%), Transport (2.20%), Furnishings & Household Equipment and maintenance (1.70%), Education (1.34%) and Health (1.02%).
Others that contributed to the rise in the CPI were Miscellaneous Goods & Services (0.56%), Restaurants & Hotels (0.41%), Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco & Kola (0.37%), Recreation & Culture (0.23%) and Communication (0.23%).
The report further revealed that the percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending October 2024 over the average CPI for the previous corresponding twelve-month period was 32.26%, showing an 8.82% increase compared to 23.44% recorded in October 2023.
On the categories covered in the report, the Bureau reported that the Food sub-index for the month under review increased to 39.16% year-on-year, representing 7.46% point higher than the 31.52% rate recorded in October 2023.
It also attributed the rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis in October this year to increases in prices of Guinea Corn, Rice, Maize Grains, Rice, etc. (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Water Yam, Coco Yam, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Palm Oil, Vegetable Oil etc. (Oil and Fats Class) and Milo Lipton, Bournvita etc. (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class).
On a month-on-month basis, the report reflected that Food inflation rate in October 2024 was 2.94%, indicating 0.30% higher when compared to the 2.64% rate recorded in the preceding month.
A further analysis of the CPI report showed that Core inflation, which is all items less volatile farm produce and Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) rose to 28.37% in October 2024 year-on-year, which represented a rise of 5.79% compared to the 22.58% recorded in October 2023.
The Bureau noted that the highest increases were recorded in prices of Bus Journey within the city, Journey by motorcycle Bus journey intercity, etc. (under Passenger Transport by Road Class), Rents (Actual and Imputed Rentals for Housing Class), Meal at a local Restaurant (Accommodation Service Class), and hair cut service, woman hairbrush, women’s hairdressing, etc. (Hairdressing salons & personal grooming establishments Class).
In addition, the statistics agency reported that on a year-on-year basis the Urban consumer’s inflation rate increased to 36.38% in the month under review, showing a 7.09% point higher compared to the 29.29% recorded in the corresponding month in the year 2023, while on a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate grew by 2.75% in October 2024, which shows an increase of 0.08% compared to 2.67% in the preceding month.
On the Rural consumer’s sub-index in October this year, the report indicated that it rose to 31.59% on a year-on-year basis; 6.01% higher compared to the 25.58% recorded in October 2023, and that on a month-on-month basis, the Rural sub-index was 2.53%, which increased by 0.14% compared to 2.39% recorded in September 2024
When analyzed on states profiles, the report showed that the all-item index for October 2024, on a year-on-year basis, was highest in Bauchi (46.68%), Kebbi (40.02%), Sokoto (39.64%), while Delta (27.85%), Benue (28.22%) while Katsina (29.59%) recorded the lowest rise in Headline inflation on year-on-year basis.
The state-level analyses of the food index in October 2024 on a year-on-year basis showed the highest increases in Sokoto (52.18%), Edo (46.55%), Borno (45.85%), while Kwara (31.68%), Kogi (33.30%) and Rivers (33.87%) recorded the slowest rise.
