Nigeria’s Inflation Rises To 31.70% in Feb – NBS

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased year-on-year (YoY) by 1.8 percentage points to 31.7 per cent in February 2024 from 29.9 per cent in January 2024, according to the latest release by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The statistics office released the figure on Friday, with the latest data showing a rise from the 29.90 per cent recorded in January 2024.

According to the ‘Consumer Price Index and Inflation Report’ for February, the NBS explained that the hike represented a 1.80 per cent increase from what was recorded in January.

The Burea said: “In February 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 31.70% relative to the January 2024 headline inflation rate, which was 29.9%.

“Looking at the movement, the February 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 1.8 % points when compared to the January 2024 headline inflation rate.

“On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the headline inflation rate was 9.79% points higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023, which was 21.91%.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate
(YoY basis) increased in the month of February 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e, February 2023).

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the headline inflation rate in February 2024 was 3.12%, which was 0.48% higher than the rate recorded in January 2024 (2.64%).

“This means that in February 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is more than the rate of increase in the average price level in January 2024.”

On food inflation, ths NBS stated: “The food inflation rate in February 2024 was 37.92% on a YoY basis, which was 13.57% points higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023 (24.35%).

“The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in the prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, oil and fat, meat, fruit, coffee, tea, and cocoa.

“On a MoM basis, the food inflation in February 2024 was 3.79%; this was 0.58% higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2024 (3.21%).”

“In February 2024, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi (46.32%), Rivers (44.34%), and Kwara (43.5%), while Bauchi (31.46%), Plateau (32.56%), and Taraba (33.23%) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.

“On a MoM basis, however, February 2024 food inflation was highest in Adamawa (5.61%), Yobe (5.60%), and Borno (5.60%), while Cross River (2.08%), Niger (2.56%), and Abuja (2.60%) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a MoM basis”, it added.