BREAKING: Nigeria’s Inflation Skyrockets At 20.52% As Bread, Transport Costs Soar

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released a report that the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in goods and services prices, increased to 20.52 per cent in August 2022, up from 19.64 per cent the previous month on Thursday.

This is the highest rate since October 2005. This was in its consumer pricing index (CPI) report for August 2022.

The rate was 3.52 per cent higher than the 17.01 per cent recorded in August 2021, according to NBS.

According to the report, increases were recorded in all classifications of individual consumption according to purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.

“On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2022 was 1.77 per cent, this was 0.05 per cent lower than the rate recorded in July 2022 (1.82 percent). This means that in August 2022 the headline inflation rate (month–on–month basis) declined by 0.05 per cent,” the report reads.

“The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months period ending August 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 17.07 percent, showing a 0.47 percent increase compared to 16.60 percent recorded in August 2021.”

“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve-month period ending August 2022 over the previous twelve-month average was 19.02 percent, which was a 1.48 percent decline from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2021 (20.50 percent).”

The report further analysed price movements for states, Anambra and Ondo were the highest.

“In August 2022, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kwara (30.80 per cent), Ebonyi (28.06 per cent) and Rivers (27.64 per cent), while Jigawa (17.77 per cent), Zamfara (18.79 per cent) and Oyo (19.80 per cent) recorded the slowest rise on year-on-year food inflation.

“On a month-on-month basis, however, August 2022 food inflation was highest in Anambra (3.05 per cent), Ondo (2.92 per cent) and Bauchi (2.78 per cent), while Yobe (0.46 per cent), Oyo (0.89 per cent) and Delta (0.94 per cent) recorded the slowest rise on month-on-month inflation.”