From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The uncontrollable price of food in Nigeria has pushed inflation back up to 22.22% in April from 22.04% in March 2023.
According to the available record, the food inflation rate in April 2023 was 24.61% year-on-year, which was 6.24%
points higher than the rate recorded in April 2022 (18.37%).
“The increase in year-on-year food inflation was caused by the increase in the prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, yams and other tubers; fruits, meat, vegetables and spirits.
“In month-on-month terms, the food inflation rate in April 2023 was 2.13 percent. This was
0.06 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in March 2023 (2.07 percent). The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending April 2023 compared to the average of the previous twelve months was 23.22 percent, an increase of 4.35 percent of the average annual exchange rate recorded in April 2022 (18.88 percent).” dit.
Taking the move into account, NBS said, the inflation rate for April 2023 showed an increase of 0.18 percentage points compared to the headline inflation rate for March 2023. Similarly, year-on-year, the overall inflation rate was 5.40 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in April 2022, which was 16.82 percent. This shows that the overall year-on-year inflation rate increased in April 2023 compared to the same month of the previous year.
“Also, on a month-over-month basis, the All-Items Index in April 2023 was 1.91%, which was 0.05% higher than the rate recorded in March 2023 (1, 86%). This means that in April 2023, on average, the general price level was 0.05 percent higher than in March 2023. The percentage change in the consumer price index (CPI) average of the twelve months ended April 2023 over the average of the CPI of the previous twelve months was 20.82%, showing an increase of 4.37% compared to 16.45% registered in April 2022,” the office said.
According to the statistics agency, all items but agricultural products or core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural product prices, stood at 20.14% in April 2023 year-on-year, up 5.96 % higher compared to 14.18 percent recorded in April 2022. The highest increases were recorded in gas prices, air passenger transportation, liquid fuel, vehicle spare parts, fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment, medical services, road passenger transport, etc.
“In month-on-month terms, the core inflation rate was 1.46 percent in April 2023. It stood at
1.84% in March 2023, 0.38% less. The twelve-month average annual inflation rate was 17.91 percent for the twelve months ended April 2023; this was 4.23 percent more than the 13.68 percent recorded in April 2022,” the statistics agency noted.
