Nigeria’s headline inflation rate slowed to 32.15 per cent in August 2024 down from the 33.40 per cent recorded in July 2024, reflecting a decrease of 1.25 percentage points according to National Bureau of statistics report on its website. This represents the second consecutive monthly slowdown in inflation after easing in the previous month. According to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It said “However, on a year-on-year basis, the August 2024 inflation rate was 6.35 percentage points higher than the 25.80 per cent rate recorded in August 2023, indicating a significant increase over the past year. On a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate in August 2024 stood at 2.22 per cent, slightly lower than July’s rate of 2.28 per cent, signalling a slower pace in the increase of the average price level compared to the previous month.
“In August 2024, the food inflation rate reached 37.52 per cent on a year-on-year basis, marking an 8.18 percentage point increase compared to 29.34 per cent recorded in August 2023. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation stood at 2.37 per cent, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.10 percentage points from the 2.47 per cent rate recorded in July 2024. The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending in August 2024 was 36.99%, representing an 11.98 percentage point increase compared to the 25.01% average recorded in August 2023. Core inflation Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural products and energy, stood at 27.58% in August 2024 on a year-on-year basis, reflecting a 6.43 percentage point increase compared to the 21.15% recorded in August 2023”.
The report said that the highest increases in items under core inflation were witnessed in rents, intracity bus and motorcycle journeys, Accommodation Service, Laboratory service, X-ray photography, Consultation Fee of a medical doctor. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation was 2.27% in August 2024, slightly up by 0.11 percentage points from 2.16% in July 2024. The average annual core inflation rate for the twelve months ending August 2024 was 25.18%, which represents a 6-percentage point rise from the 19.18% recorded in August 2023. Inflation in urban and rural areas In August 2024, the urban inflation rate reached 34.58% on a year-on-year basis, representing an increase of 6.89 percentage points compared to the 27.69% recorded in August 2023. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation stood at 2.39%, down by 0.07 percentage points from July’s 2.46%. Meanwhile, the rural inflation rate in August 2024 was 29.95% year-on-year, which is 5.85 percentage points higher than the 24.10% recorded in August 2023. On a month-on-month basis, rural inflation decreased slightly to 2.06%, down by 0.04 percentage points from July 2024’s 2.10%.
