Nigeria's food inflation hits record 33.93 per cent, says NBS

Nigeria’s food inflation has climbed to a record level, moving from 32.83 per cent in November 2023 to 33.93 per cent in December 2023.

This was revealed in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for December 2023 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which was made public on Monday.

According to the data, there was a 10.18% increase compared to the rate observed during the same period in 2022.

The average price increases of meat, fish, yam, potatoes and other tubers, bread and cereals, oil and fat, cheese, and eggs contributed to the monthly food inflation.

“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 7.58 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2022, which was 21.34 per cent,” the NBS stated.

It added, “This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in December 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., December 2022).”

According to the bureau, food prices soared by 2.72 per cent, a 0.30 per cent increase from the rate recorded in November.

“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in December 2023 was 2.72%; this was 0.30% higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2023 (2.42%),” it said.

“The rise in Food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by a rise in the rate of increase in the average prices of oil and fat, meat, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish and milk, cheese, and egg.

“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending December 2023 over the previous twelve-month average was 27.96 per cent, which was a 7.02 per cent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in December 2022 (20.94 per cent).

“In December 2023, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi (44.73 per cent), Kwara (41.33 per cent), and Imo (39.54 per cent), while Bauchi (27.49 per cent), Jigawa (27.98 per cent) and Sokoto (28.72 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.

“On a month-on-month basis, however, December 2023 food inflation was highest in Bayelsa (4.42 per cent), Ogun (4.11 per cent), and Enugu (4.03 per cent), while Nasarawa (1.48 per cent), Delta (1.65 per cent) and Niger (1.67 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in inflation on a month-on-month basis,” NBS said.

Prices of food, fuel, transportation and telecommunication increased to new record levels as Nigeria’s inflation rate passed 28 percent in November.

This rising inflation has taken a heavy toll on the socio-economic activities of the nation, despite the ongoing transformation under the new president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.