The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria's headline inflation rate rose to 33.88 percent in October 2024. This information was shared in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for October 2024, which was published in Abuja on Friday.
The report indicates that this figure represents an increase of 1.18 percentage points from the 32.70 percent recorded in September 2024. Year-on-year, the headline inflation rate for October 2024 is 6.55 percentage points higher than the 27.33 percent noted in October 2023.
Additionally, the month-on-month inflation rate for October 2024 was recorded at 2.64 percent, which is an increase of 0.12 percentage points from the 2.52 percent observed in September 2024. This suggests that the rate of price level increase in October 2024 surpassed that of September 2024.
The report attributes the rise in the headline index for October 2024, both year-on-year and month-on-month, to increases in various items within the goods and services basket at the divisional level. Notable increases were seen in categories such as food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, as well as clothing and footwear, transportation, and furnishings, household equipment, and maintenance.
Other contributing sectors included education, health, miscellaneous goods and services, restaurants and hotels, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, kola, recreation and culture, and communication. The report also noted that the percentage change in the average CPI for the 12 months ending October 2024 compared to the previous 12 months was 32.26 percent, reflecting an increase of 8.82 percentage points from the 23.44 percent recorded in October 2023.
Furthermore, the food inflation rate for October 2024 reached 39.16 percent on a year-on-year basis, which is 7.64 percentage points higher than the 31.52 percent recorded in October 2023.
The year-on-year increase in food inflation is attributed to rising prices of various staples, including guinea corn, rice, maize, beans, yam, water yam, and CocoYam. Additionally, significant price hikes were noted in palm oil, vegetable oil, Lipton, Milo, and Bournvita, among others.
On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate for October was recorded at 2.94 percent, reflecting a 0.30 percent rise from the 2.64 percent observed in September 2024. This monthly increase is primarily driven by higher average prices for palm oil, vegetable oil, mudfish, croaker, fresh fish, dried beef, goat meat, mutton, and skin meat, along with other items such as bread, guinea corn flour, and plantain flour.
The report indicates that core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural products and energy prices, reached 28.37 percent year-on-year in October, marking a 5.79 percent increase from the 22.58 percent recorded in October 2023. The exclusion of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is due to the deregulation of this commodity following the removal of subsidies.
Notably, the most significant price increases were observed in urban transportation, including bus journeys within the city, motorcycle rides, and intercity bus travel. Other areas of increase included rents, meals at local restaurants, haircuts, women's hairbrushes, and hairdressing services.
According to the NBS, the core inflation rate on a month-on-month basis stood at 2.14 percent in October 2024, which is a slight increase of 0.04 percent from the 2.10 percent recorded in September 2024. The average annual inflation rate for the 12 months ending in October 2024 was 26.12 percent, representing a rise of 6.14 percentage points compared to the 19.98 percent noted in October 2023.
In terms of urban inflation, the year-on-year rate for October 2024 was 36.38 percent, which is 7.09 percent higher than the 29.29 percent recorded in October 2023.
In October, the urban inflation rate increased to 2.75 percent on a month-to-month basis, reflecting a rise of 0.08 percent from September 2024, which was recorded at 2.67 percent. The report indicated that the rural inflation rate for the same month was 31.59 percent on a year-over-year basis, marking an increase of 6.01 percent from the 25.58 percent noted in October 2023.
On a month-to-month basis, the rural inflation rate stood at 2.53 percent, up by 0.14 percent from September 2024, which was at 2.39 percent. An analysis of state profiles revealed that Bauchi had the highest year-on-year inflation rate at 46.68 percent in October, followed by Kebbi at 40.02 percent and Sokoto at 39.65 percent. Conversely, Delta recorded the slowest year-on-year increase in headline inflation at 27.85 percent, with Benue at 28.22 percent and Katsina at 29.59 percent.
The report also highlighted that in October 2024, the month-to-month inflation rate was highest in Kano at 3.77 percent, followed closely by Bauchi at 3.74 percent and Anambra at 3.59 percent. The slowest month-to-month inflation increases were observed in Kwara at 1.27 percent, Ondo at 1.49 percent, and Lagos at 1.91 percent.
Regarding food inflation on a year-over-year basis, Sokoto led with 52.18 percent, followed by Edo at 46.55 percent and Borno at 45.85 percent. The slowest increases in food inflation were recorded in Kwara at 31.68 percent, Kogi at 33.30 percent, and Rivers at 33.87 percent.
On a month-to-month basis, food inflation was highest in Adamawa at 5.08 percent, with Sokoto at 4.86 percent and Yobe at 4.34 percent. The slowest month-to-month increases in food inflation were seen in Kwara at 1.11 percent, Ondo at 1.31 percent, and Kogi at 1.50 percent.