The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that there has been 0.18 per cent increase in the inflation rate between March and April, 2023, with food topping the list.
The country’s inflation rate rose to 22.22 per cent in April from 22.04 per cent in March. The new figure was released on Monday by the statistics office.
The elevated inflation rate, slow economic growth and high unemployment rate are some of the challenges facing Africa’s biggest economy as a new president prepares to assume power by the end of May.
The NBS said on a year-on-year basis; the headline inflation rate was 5.40 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in April 2022, which was 16.82 per cent.
“This shows that the headline inflation rate on a year-on-year basis increased in April 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., April 2022),” it said.
According to the report, the food inflation rate quickened to 24.61 per cent in April from 24.46 per cent in March.
Inflation has remained high in Africa’s largest economy, prompting the apex bank to hike interest rates to their highest levels in nearly two decades.
In an aggressive push to contain the nation’s inflationary pressure, the Central Bank of Nigeria, in March, raised its benchmark lending rate to 18 per cent.
In its inflation report Monday, the NBS said the contributions of items on the divisional level to the increase in the headline index are Food & non-alcoholic beverages (11.51 per cent), housing water, electricity, gas & other fuel (3.72 per cent), clothing & footwear (1.70 per cent), transport (1.45 per cent), furnishings & household equipment & maintenance (1.12 per cent), education (0.88 per cent), health (0.67 per cent), miscellaneous goods & services (0.37 per cent), restaurant & hotels (0.27 per cent), alcoholic beverages, tobacco & kola (0.24 per cent), recreation & culture (0.15 per cent) and communication (0.15 per cent).
On a month-on-month basis, the report said the All-Items Index in April 2023 was 1.91 per cent, which was 0.05 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in March 2023 (1.86 per cent).
“This means that in April 2023, on average, the general price level was 0.05 per cent higher relative to March 2023.
“The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending April 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months was 20.82 per cent, showing a 4.37 per cent increase compared to the 16.45 per cent recorded in April 2022,” the report said.
The food inflation rate in April 2023 was 24.61 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 6.24 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in April 2022 (18.37 per cent).
The bureau said the rise in food inflation was caused by increases in prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fruits, meat, vegetable, and spirits.
“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in April 2023 was 2.13 per cent; this was 0.06 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2023 (2.07 per cent).
“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending April 2023 over the previous twelve months average was 23.22 per cent, which was a 4.35 per cent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in April 2022 (18.88 per cent),” it said.
The report added that the core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 20.14 per cent in April 2023 on a year-on-year basis, up by 5.96 per cent compared to the 14.18 per cent recorded in April 2022.
It said the highest increases were recorded in gas prices, passenger transport by air, liquid fuel, vehicle spare parts, fuels, and lubricants for personal transport equipment, medical services, passenger transport by road, etc.
“On a month-on-month basis, the Core inflation rate was 1.46 per cent in April 2023. It stood at 1.84 per cent in March 2023, down by 0.38 per cent.
“The average twelve months annual inflation rate was 17.91 per cent for the twelve months ending April 2023; this was 4.23 per cent points higher than the 13.68 per cent recorded in April 2022,” it said.
