Headline Inflation soars to unprecedented 24.08 percent in July as food inflation jumps to 26.98
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday announced that inflation rose from 22.79% in June 2023 to 24.08% in July 2023.
This was contained in its report titled: “CPI and inflation report July 2023.”
The NBS said: “In July 2023, the headline inflation rate rose to 24.08% relative to June 2023 headline inflation rate which was 22.79%.”
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According to the report, looking at the movement, the July 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 1.29% points when compared to June 2023 headline inflation rate.
It added on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 4.44% points higher compared to the rate recorded in July 2022, which was 19.64%.
NBS noted this shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in July 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., July 2022).
Average basic expenditures on foods and other necessities by Nigerians have continued to increase, further eroding people’s ability to save or invest.
The report indicated that inflation rate rose by 129 basis points to 24.08 per cent in July 2023 as against 22.79 per cent in June 2023.
A breakdown showed that the rise in headline inflation was driven by general increases in prices across all segments, particularly food items and transport fares.
The report showed that food inflation was above average with increase of 173 basis points to 26.98 per cent in July 2023 as against 25.25 per cent in June 2023.
The growth in food inflation underlined increases in prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fruits, feats, vegetables, milk, cheese, and eggs among others.
Also, core inflation rose by 41 basis points to 20.47 per cent in July 2023 compared with 20.06 per cent in the previous month.
The report showed that the highest increases were recorded in prices of other necessities such as passenger transport by air, passenger transport by road, vehicle spare parts, medical services, maintenance, and repair of personal transport equipment among others.