Nigeria: inflation hits 19.64%, highest in 17yrs
The National Bureau of Statistics says Nigeria’s headline Inflation Rate is now 19.64 percent, the highest recorded since the year 2005. Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Semiu Adeniran stated this in the Consumer Price Index report for the month of July 2022 released by NBS in Abuja.
The Consumer Price Index – a measurement of the rate of change in prices of goods and services consumed by people for day-to-day living increased from 18.60% recorded last month to currently stand at 19.64%. The rate is the highest recorded since September 2005. The figure is also 2.27 percent higher compared to 17.38 percent recorded in July 2021.
What other increases were recorded in the report?
According to the CPI report, there were increases in all classifications of individual consumption according to purpose division that yielded the headline index.
“On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in July 2022 was 1.817% which was 0.001 higher than the rate recorded in June 2022(1.816). The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months period ending July 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 16.75, showing a 0.46% increase compared to 16.30% recorded in July 2021” the report reads in part.
The report also added that food inflation rose to 22.02% in July, a slight increase compared to 20.60 recorded in June, blaming it on the continuous increase in the prices of bread, cereals, food products, potatoes, yam, meat, fish, oil and fat.
How did each state perform?
An analysis of the price movement showed that Akwa-Ibom (22.88%), Ebonyi (22.51%) and Kogi (22.08%) states witnessed the highest prices, while Jigawa (16.62%), Kano (17.04%), and Borno (18.04%) recorded the lowest rise in inflation.
Why you should be bothered
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is shrinking the global economy resulting in rising in the cost of food and energy. Families in low-income countries are the most affected as some are already spending a large chunk of their household income on food. According to World Bank, the implication is that inflation would likely push more people into poverty by the end of the year 2022. World Bank estimates about one million Nigerians experience this.
