Nigeria’s inflation rate on the increase, rises to 31.7% — NBS

By Abiodun OBA

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s inflation rate increased to 31.70 per cent in February 2024 relative to the January 2024 headline inflation rate, which was 29.90 per cent.

The February 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 1.80 per cent points when compared to the January 2024 headline inflation rate.

According to the NBS which attributed the increase to the high cost of food items, the headline inflation rate on a year-on-year basis, was 9.79 per cent higher compared to the 21.91 per cent rate recorded in February 2023.

This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in February 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year of 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 the 2.64 per cent rate recorded in January 2024.

This means that in February 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level will be higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in January 2024.

The NBS said, “The percentage change in the average CPI for the 12-month ending February 2024 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12-month period was 26.18 per cent, showing a 6.31 per cent increase compared to 19.87 per cent recorded in February 2023.”