Nigeria’s inflation rate climbed to 34.19 percent in June 2024, up from 33.95 percent in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday.
The CPI report tracks changes in the prices of goods and services. The NBS indicated that food inflation also spiked to 40.87 percent in June due to rising costs for food and non-alcoholic beverages.
The report noted that the headline inflation rate in June increased by 0.24 percentage points from May 2024’s rate. Compared to June 2023, the headline inflation rate is up by 11.40 percentage points from the previous year’s 22.79 percent.
On a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate in June 2024 was 2.31 percent, a 0.17 percentage point rise from May’s rate of 2.14 percent. This indicates a higher rate of increase in average prices from May to June.
**Food Inflation Increased by 15.62%**
Food inflation in June 2024 was 40.87 percent year-on-year, marking a 15.62 percentage point increase from the 25.25 percent rate in June 2023. The surge in food prices was attributed to increases in items such as millet, garri, guinea corn, bread, cereals, yam, groundnut oil, palm oil, and catfish.
Month-on-month, food inflation rose to 2.55 percent in June, up from 2.28 percent in May. This increase was driven by higher prices for groundnut oil, palm oil, water yam, coco yam, cassava, tobacco, and various types of fresh fish.
The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending June 2024 was 35.35 percent, up 11.31 percentage points from the 24.03 percent recorded in June 2023.
**Regional Variations in Food Inflation**
In June, states like Edo (47.34 percent), Kogi (46.37 percent), and Cross River (45.28 percent) experienced the highest food inflation rates, while Nasarawa (34.31 percent), Bauchi (34.78 percent), and Adamawa (35.96 percent) saw the slowest year-on-year increases.
On a month-on-month basis, Yobe (4.75 percent), Adamawa (4.74 percent), and Taraba (4.12 percent) had the highest food inflation rates. Conversely, Nasarawa (0.14 percent), Kano (0.96 percent), and Lagos (1.25 percent) recorded the slowest rises in food inflation.
Cable