Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index, (CPI) the most widely followed inflation gauge, increased to 15.70 per cent for the month of February, latest release from the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), revealed.
According to the CPI and Inflation Report released on Tuesday, the figure, which represents 1.63 per cent points lower compared to the 17.33per cent recorded in February 2021, indicates that the headline inflation rate slowed down in February when compared to the same month in the previous year.
The report also showed increases in all COICOP divisions that yielded the Headline index. On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased to 1.63 per cent in February 2022, a 0.16 per cent rate higher than the rate recorded in January 2022 (1.47) per cent.
“The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending February 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 16.73 per cent, showing 0.14 per cent point from 16.87 per cent recorded in January 2022.”
The urban inflation rate recorded increase to 16.25 per cent (year-on-year) in February 2022 from 17.92 per cent was recorded in February 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased to 15.18 per cent in February 2022 from 16.77 per cent in February 2021.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose to 1.65per cent in February 2022, up by 0.12 the rate recorded in January 2022 (1.53) per cent, while the rural index also rose to 1.61 per cent in February 2022, up by 0.19 the rate that was recorded in January 2022 (1.42) per cent.
“The twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 17.29 per cent in February 2022. This is lower than the 17.44 per cent reported in January 2022, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in February 2022 is 16.18 per cent which is lower than the 16.31 per cent recorded in January 2022,” the NBS said.