By Joke Kujenya
MARKING AN increase of 0.26 percentage points, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has climbed to 33.95% in May 2024, up from 33.69% in April 2024.
Contained in the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report of May 2024, it says that on a year-on-year basis, this rate is 11.54 percentage points higher than the 22.41% recorded in May 2023, underscoring the persistent inflationary pressures in the country.
The report also notes that the month-on-month headline inflation rate for May 2024 stood at 2.14%, representing a slight decrease from the 2.29% recorded in April 2024 and indicating a deceleration in the monthly rate of price increases.
Urban inflation is reported to have risen 36.34% in May 2024, up from 23.74% in May 2023, while rural inflation reached 31.82%, compared to 21.19% in the same period last year.
Food inflation also surged to 40.66% year-on-year in May 2024, driven by higher prices of staples such as Semovita, yam flour, garri, beans, palm oil, and meats.
The core inflation rate, excluding volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, was 27.04% year-on-year in May 2024, up from 19.83% in May 2023 as the NBS report notes.
Among states, Bauchi recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate at 42.30%, followed by Kogi at 39.38% and Oyo at 37.73%. Borno, Benue, and Delta had the lowest inflation rates at 25.97%, 27.74%, and 28.67%, respectively.
With these inflation trends highlighting the ongoing economic challenges, Nigeria is faced with a daunting task in managing inflation and stabilizing prices, particularly in the food sector, the NBS alerts.
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