Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to a 17-year high of 20.77% year on year (y/y) in September, 2022 from 20.52 per cent recorded in August of the same year.
The surge was jointly driven by a 40 basis points and 22 basis points rise in core and food inflation respectively which settled at 17.6% and 23.3% y/y.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on Monday that the inflation rate on a year-by-year basis rose by 4.14 per cent, while the same figure rose by 1.36 per cent between August 2022 and September 2022.
According to NBS, factors responsible for the increase in the annual inflation rate include interruption in the supply of food products, increase in import cost due to the persistent currency depreciation and a general increase in the cost of production.
On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in September was 1.36 per cent, which was 0.41 per cent lower than the rate recorded in August 2022 at 1.77 per cent.
“This means that in September 2022, the headline inflation rate on a month–on–month basis declined by 0.41 per cent, relative to August 2022.”
The agency noted that the factor responsible for the decline in the monthly inflation rate in the last two months was a decline in the changes in the food index. According to the agency, this is relative to the reference month index, which is due to the present harvest season.
It stated that the percentage change in the average CPI for all items index for the 12 months ending September 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12-month period was 17.43 per cent.”
This is showing a 0.60 per cent increase compared to 16.83 per cent recorded in September 2021.”Adeniran said increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by purpose, divisions that yielded the Headline index.
The food sub-index, according to the report, increased by 23.34 per cent on a year-on-year basis in September 2022, adding that the inflation was 3.77 per cent higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2021 at 19.57 per cent.
This rise in food inflation, it explained, was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, food products, potatoes, yam, and other tubers, oil, and fat.
On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in September was 1.43 per cent. This was a 0.54 per cent decline compared to the rate recorded in August 2022 at 1.98 per cent.
According to the NBS, this decline is attributed to a reduction in prices of some food items like tubers, palm oil, maize, beans, and vegetables. It said the average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending September 2022 over the previous 12-month average was 19.36 per cent.” This was a decline of 1.35 per cent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in September 2021 at 20.71 per cent.
In September 2022, consumer price index for urban consumers rose by 4.06 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
In September 2022, the urban inflation rate was 21.25 per cent higher compared to the 17.19 per cent recorded in September 2021. On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.46 per cent in September 2022, this was a 0.34 per cent decline compared to August 2022 at 1.79 per cent.”
The report said the corresponding 12-month average for the urban inflation rate was 17.94 per cent in September 2022, showing a 0.53 per cent increase compared to the 17.41 per cent reported in September 2021.
It added that the inflation rate for rural consumers in September 2022 was 20.32 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 4.24 per cent higher compared to 16.08 per cent recorded in September 2021.” On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in September 2022 was 1.27 per cent, this is a 0.48 per cent decline compared to August 2022 at 1.75 per cent.”
The NBS said the corresponding 12-month average for the rural inflation rate in September 2022 was 16.94 per cent, showing a 0.68 per cent increase compared to the 16.26 per cent recorded in September 2021.
The NBS said all items inflation rate for September 2022 on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi at 23.82 per cent, followed by Rivers at 23.49 per cent, and Benue at 22.78 per cent. The states with the slowest rise were Abuja with 17.87 per cent followed by Borno with 18.12 per cent, and Adamawa with 18.42 per cent.