In a recent report, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 33.95% in May 2024, up from 33.69% in April 2024.
This marks a 0.26% increase from the previous month and a significant year-on-year increase of 11.54%, compared to the 22.41% recorded in May 2023.
The NBS report, published on its official website, highlights the persistent upward trend in Nigeria’s inflation, driven primarily by escalating food prices.
While the month-on-month headline inflation rate in May 2024 decreased slightly to 2.14%, down from 2.29% in April, the year-on-year figures depict a more concerning picture of economic strain.
Urban areas experienced higher inflation rates, with a year-on-year urban inflation rate of 36.34% in May 2024, a 12.61% increase from May 2023.
Month-on-month, urban inflation stood at 2.35%, a reduction from April’s 2.67%.
The twelve-month average for urban inflation was reported at 31.07%, a 9.12% increase from the previous year.
Rural areas were not spared either, recording a year-on-year inflation rate of 31.82% in May 2024, which is 10.63% higher than May 2023.
The month-on-month rural inflation rate showed a slight increase to 1.94% from April’s 1.92%.
The twelve-month average rural inflation rate reached 27.27%, up by 6.76% compared to the previous year.
Food inflation was a significant contributor to the overall inflation rate. In May 2024, food inflation hit 40.66% year-on-year, a substantial increase from 24.82% in May 2023.
The rise in food prices was attributed to increases in essential commodities such as semovita, oatflakes, yam flour, garri, beans, and various tubers like Irish potatoes and yams.
Additionally, the prices of palm oil, vegetable oil, stockfish, crayfish, beef, chicken, pork, and bush meat also surged.
Despite the annual increase, the month-on-month food inflation rate in May 2024 decreased to 2.28% from 2.50% in April.
This reduction was mainly due to a slower increase in the prices of palm oil, groundnut oil, yams, Irish potatoes, cassava, wine, Bournvita, Milo, and Nescafe.
The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending in May 2024 was 34.06%, a 10.41% increase from the 23.65% recorded in May 2023.
The NBS report also highlighted regional disparities in inflation rates across Nigeria.
Bauchi recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate at 42.30%, followed by Kogi at 39.38% and Oyo at 37.73%.
In contrast, Borno (25.97%), Benue (27.74%), and Delta (28.67%) experienced the slowest year-on-year inflation growth.
Month-on-month, Kano saw the highest increase at 4.24%, with Gombe (4.06%) and Bauchi (3.75%) following closely.
Ondo (0.57%), Kwara (1.19%), and Yobe (1.24%) recorded the slowest month-on-month inflation increases.
For food inflation on a year-on-year basis, Kogi led with 46.32%, followed by Ekiti (44.94%) and Kwara (44.66%).
The slowest year-on-year food inflation increases were in Adamawa (31.72%), Bauchi (34.35%), and Borno (34.74%). On a month-on-month basis, Gombe (4.88%), Kano (4.68%), and Bayelsa (3.62%) had the highest increases, while Ondo (0.02%), Yobe (0.95%), and Adamawa (1.02%) recorded the slowest increases.
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