Nigeria’s Inflation Drops for Two Consecutive Months to 32.15%
Nigeria’s inflation rate has continued its downward trend for the second consecutive month, falling to 32.15% in August 2024, according to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
This represents a 1.25% decrease from the 33.40% recorded in July 2024 and 34.19% in June 2024.
“The August 2024 headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.25% points when compared to July 2024,” the NBS said in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday, September 16.
Despite the recent decline, inflation remains significantly higher compared to the previous year, as the current rate is 6.35% higher than the 25.80% recorded in August 2023.
On a month-to-month basis, the inflation rate was 2.22% in August, slightly lower than the 2.28% recorded in July, marking a small but significant slowdown in the price level increase. The NBS noted that this reflects a slight reduction in the pace of rising prices compared to the previous month.
Food inflation, which has been a major driver of the overall inflation rate, stood at 37.52% in August 2024, up from 29.34% in the same month of the previous year. The report attributed the year-on-year increase to the rising costs of key items such as bread, grains, maize, and palm oil.
However, on a month-to-month basis, food inflation slightly eased to 2.37%, down from 2.47% in July.
The NBS pointed out that regions such as Sokoto (46.98%), Gombe (43.25%), and Yobe (43.21%) experienced the highest year-on-year increases in food prices. On the other hand, Benue (32.33%) and Rivers (33.01%) recorded the slowest increases in food inflation. Month-to-month, Adamawa (5.46%) saw the sharpest rise, while states like Ogun (0.08%) witnessed the slowest increase.
The report suggests that the easing of inflation could be attributed to a decline in the rate of increase in the prices of items such as tobacco, tea, and vegetable oil. However, the economic outlook remains cautious, given the persistently high costs of essential commodities.
