Inflation rate surges to 29.90% pushed by the price of food items

Our reporter/ Nigeria’s headline Inflation rose to 29.90 percent in the month of January, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.

According to the report, the January 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.98 percent points when compared to the (28.92 percent) in December 2023.

The inflation figure for December 2023 broke a 20-year record high.

The NBS said January’s inflation was caused by increase in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, oil and fat, fish, meat, fruit, coffee, tea, and cocoa.

The report also stated that food inflation increased by 35.41 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 11.10 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2023 (24.32%).

“All items less farm produces and energy” or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produces and energy stood at 23.59 percent in January 2024 on a year-on-year basis; up by 4.71 percent when compared to the 18.88 percent recorded in January 2023, the report added.

“The highest increases were recorded in prices of passenger transport by road, medical services, actual and imputed rentals for housing, pharmaceutical products, accommodation service, and passenger transport by air etc.”