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As Nigerians continue to grapple under the burden of rising cost of living, the rate at which prices of goods and services in the country continues to rise has refused to abate with inflation rate rising to 31.7 per cent in February while food inflation rose to 37.92 per cent.
Latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that, inflation, which shows the rate at which prices are rising, had crossed the 30 per cent mark to 31.7 per cent compared to 29.9 per cent which it was in January this year.
The February 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 1.80 percentage points when compared to the January 2024 headline inflation rate. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 9.79 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023, which was 21.91 per cent.
This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in the month of February 2024 when compared to February 2023. Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in February 2024 was 3.12 per cent, which was 0.48 per cent higher than 2.64 per cent recorded in January 2024. 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.
The data released by the NBS showed that the food inflation rate in February 2024 was 37.92 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 13.57 percentage points higher compared to 24.35 per cent recorded in February 2023.
According to NBS, the rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of Bread and cereals, Potatoes, Yam and other Tubers, Fish, Oil and fat, Meat, Fruit, Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa.
On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in February 2024 was 3.79 per cent this was 0.58 per cent higher compared to 3.21 per cent recorded in January 2024. The rise in the Food inflation on a Month-on-Month basis was caused by a rise in the rate of increase in the average prices of Bread and Cereals, Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers, Fish, Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa.
The average annual rate of Food inflation for the 12 months ending February 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 30.07 per cent, which was a 7.95 percentage points increase from the average annual rate of 22.12 per cent recorded in February 2023.
On a year-on-year basis, in February 2024, the Urban inflation rate was 33.66 per cent, this was 10.87 percentage points higher compared to the 22.78 per cent recorded in February 2023. On a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate was 3.17 per cent in February 2024, this was 0.45 percentage points higher compared to January 2024 (2.72 per cent).
The corresponding twelve-month average for the Urban inflation rate was 27.93 per cent in February 2024. This was 7.48 percentage points higher compared to the 20.45 per cent reported in February 2023.
The Rural inflation rate in February 2024 was 29.99 per cent on a year-on-year basis; this was 8.89 per cent higher compared to the 21.10 per cent recorded in February 2023. On a month-on-month basis, the Rural inflation rate in February 2024 was 3.07 per cent, up by 0.50 per cent points compared to January 2024 (2.57 per cent). The corresponding twelve-month average for the Rural inflation rate in February 2024 was 24.61 per cent. This was 5.28 per cent higher compared to the 19.33 per cent recorded in February 2023.
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