By Uche Usim
More Nigerians risk being pushed into multidimensional poverty as Nigeria’s inflation rate surged to 33.95% in May, up from 33.69% in April, latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Saturday has shown.
Food inflation in May 2024 surged to 40.66% on a year-on-year basis, a stark rise from the 24.82% recorded in May 2023, and slightly higher than the 40.53% recorded in April 2024. This sharp increase in food prices is attributed to various factors affecting different food categories.
Key items driving this inflation include Semovita, Oatflake, pre-packaged Yam flour, Garri, Beans (Bread and Cereals class), Irish Potatoes, Yam, Water Yam (Potatoes, Yam and other Tubers class), Palm Oil, Vegetable Oil (Oils and fats), Stockfish, Mudfish, Crayfish (Fish class), Beef Head, live Chicken, Pork Head, and Bush Meat (Meat class). Nevertheless, on a month-on-month basis, food inflation in May 2024 was recorded at 2.28%, a decrease from the 2.50% recorded in April 2024.
The modest increase of 0.26 percent in headline inflation points signifies a steady rise in the cost of living, with year-on-year inflation soaring by 11.54 percentage points, up from 22.41% in May 2023. However, the report notes that the month-on-month headline inflation rate in May 2024 was 2.14%, slightly down from April’s 2.29%, indicating a slower pace of price increases compared to the previous month.
The report states: “In May 2024, the headline inflation rate rose to 33.95%, compared to April’s rate of 33.69%. This represents an increase of 0.26 percentage points from April 2024. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.54 percentage points higher than the 22.41% recorded in May 2023, demonstrating a significant rise over the past year. Conversely, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in May 2024 was 2.14%, which is 0.15 percentage points lower than the 2.29% recorded in April 2024. This indicates a deceleration in the rate of price increases from April to May 2024.”
The primary contributors to the headline inflation in May 2024 include Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (17.59%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuel (5.68%), and Clothing & Footwear (2.60%).