By Charles Ebi
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate in September 2024 rose to 32.70%, up from 32.15% in August 2024, marking a 0.55% increase month-on-month.
This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics ,NBS, Consumer Price Index ,CPI, report which stated that inflation during the month was propelled by increases in transportation costs and food prices.
This is coming on the heels of increases in petrol prices by the NNPCL since early September.
On a year-on-year basis, the rate was 5.98 percentage points higher than the 26.72% recorded in September 2023, indicating a significant increase in inflation over the past year.
Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.52%, 0.30% higher than the 2.22% recorded in August 2024. This indicates that the average price level increased at a faster rate in September compared to August 2024.
The food inflation rate in September 2024 was 37.77% year-on-year, marking an increase of 7.13 percentage points from the 30.64% recorded in September 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in September 2024 stood at 2.64%, reflecting a 0.27% rise compared to the 2.37% recorded in August 2024.
This increase can be linked to the rising prices of items such as beer (local and foreign) in the tobacco class, vegetable oil, groundnut oil, and palm oil in the oil and fats class, as well as beef, gizzard, dried beef in the meat class, and products like Lipton, Milo, and Bournvita.
The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending in September 2024 was 37.53%, a 11.88 percentage point increase from the 25.65% recorded in September 2023.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural products and energy prices, stood at 27.43% year-on-year in September 2024, an increase of 5.59 percentage points compared to 21.84% in September 2023.
The largest price increases were seen in items such as rent (actual and imputed rentals for housing), intercity bus journeys, taxi fares (under passenger transport by road), meals at local restaurants (accommodation services), and others.
On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 2.10% in September 2024, down by 0.17% from the 2.27% recorded in August 2024.
The urban inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.67%, reflecting a 0.28 percentage point increase compared to 2.39% in August 2024.
Meanwhile, the rural inflation rate stood at 2.39% in September 2024, up by 0.33 percentage points from 2.06% recorded in August 2024.
