Nigeria’s headline inflation rate reached a new peak of 24.08 percent in July 2023, marking a rise from the 22.79 percent seen in June 2023.
This latest figure represents an increase of 1.29 percent from the inflation rate of June 2023.
In a similar vein, the year-on-year headline inflation rate experienced a 4.44 percentage point surge compared to the rate of 19.64 percent recorded in July 2022, according to the most recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The escalation in the headline index for July 2023 was attributed to heightened contributions from certain items within the basket of goods and services at the divisional level.
These augmentations were particularly notable in the categories of food and non-alcoholic beverages (12.47 percent) and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels (4.03 percent). Nigeria’s decision to eliminate gasoline subsidies in May of this year resulted in a sharp rise in petroleum product prices, causing a ripple effect on the prices of other commodities.
The general inflation increase was also mirrored in clothing and footwear (1.84 percent), transport (1.57 percent), furnishings and household equipment and maintenance (1.21 percent), education (0.95 percent), and health (0.72 percent).
The food component sub-index saw a year-on-year increase of 26.98 percent in July 2023, which was 4.97 percent points higher than the rate observed in June 2022 (22.02 percent).
The elevation in the food index on a year-on-year basis was driven by price hikes in oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, yams, and other tubers, fruits, meat, vegetables, milk, cheese, and eggs.
Additionally, the food inflation rate on a month-on-month basis surged to 3.45 percent in July 2023, representing an increase of 1.06 percent points compared to the rate recorded in June 2023 (2.40 percent).
