Nigeria’s inflation rate increased to 33.20 per cent in March 2024, from 31.70 per cent in February.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its consumer price index (CPI) report, which measures the rate of change in prices for goods and services on Monday.
According to the bureau, food inflation rose to 40.01 per cent in the month under review.
The NBS stated that the headline inflation rate in March increased by “1.50% points when compared to the February 2024 headline inflation rate”.
He said:
“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.16% points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2023, which was 22.04%.”
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in March 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., March 2023).
“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in March 2024 was 3.02%, which was 0.10% lower than the rate recorded in February 2024 (3.12%).
“This means that in March 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is less than
the rate of increase in the average price level in February 2024.”
The NBS report also revealed that, on a year-over-year basis, the rate of food inflation in March 2024 was 40.01 per cent, which was 15.56 percentage points higher than the rate of 24.45 per cent in March 2023.
According to the NBS, the increase in food inflation year on year was caused by higher prices for garri, millet, bread and cereal, yam, dried fish, meat, and fruits.
The bureau said:
“On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in March 2024 was 3.62% which shows a 0.17% decrease compared to the rate recorded in February 2024 (3.79%).”
“The fall in food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by a fall in the rate of increase
in the average prices of Guinea corn flour, Plantain Flour, etc (under Bread and Cereals
class), Yam, Irish Potatoe, Coco Yam (under Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers class), Titus
fish, Mudfish Dried (under Fish class), Lipton, Bournvita, and Ovaltine (under Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa class).“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending March 2024 over
the previous twelve-month average was 31.40%, which was 8.69% points increase from
the average annual rate of change recorded in March 2023 (22.72%).”
The report also said Kogi, Kwara, and Akwa Ibom states spent more on food in March.
“In March 2024, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi (48.46%), Kwara (46.18%), and Akwa Ibom (45.18%), while on a month-on-month basis, however, March 2024 food inflation was highest in Abia (5.17%), Cross River (5.14%), and Bayelsa (4.75%).”
Nasarawa (33.76 per cent), Borno (34.28 percent), and Bauchi (34.38 percent) are the states with the slowest annual increase in food inflation.
Furthermore, Borno (1.59 percent), Yobe (2.08 percent), and Adamawa (2.12 percent) saw the slowest monthly increase in food inflation.
