Nigeria’s headline inflation rate surged to a near 18-year high of 22.04% in March 2023, representing a 13.4 basis points increase compared to 21.91% recorded in the previous month.
This is according to a recent report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.13% points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2022 which was 15.92%.
Food inflation
The food index, which measures the changes in the price of agricultural items in the country rose to 24.45% in the review month, from 24.35% recorded in the previous month.
- According to the NBS, the increase in the food index was driven by increases in prices of Oil and fat, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, Fish, fruits, meat, vegetables, and Spirits.
- On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in March 2023 was 2.07%, this was 0.16% higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023 (1.90%).
- The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending March 2023 over the previous twelve months’ average was 22.72%, which was a 3.50% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in March 2022 (19.21%).
Core Inflation
The “All items less farm produce” or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 19.86% in March 2023, despite easing to 18.84% in the previous month.
- The highest increases were recorded in prices of gas, passenger transport by air, liquid fuel, fuels, and lubricants for personal transport equipment, vehicle spare parts, maintenance, and repair of personal transport equipment, medical services, and passenger transport by road.
- On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 1.84% in March 2023, up by 0.78% from 1.06% in February 2023.
- The average twelve months annual inflation rate was 17.41% for the twelve months ending March 2023; this was 3.85% points higher than the 13.56% recorded in March 2022.
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