Inflation soaring, price of commodities follow suit, NBS October stats reveal

The National Bureau of Statistics said Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 27.33 per cent in October 2023.
The NBS disclosed this in its October Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report, which was released in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to the report, the figure, which is 0.61 per cent, is higher compared to 26.72 per cent recorded in September 2023. It said on a year-on-year basis the headline inflation rate in October was 6.24 per cent higher than the rate recorded in October 2022 at 21.09 per cent.
The report said the increase in the headline index for October 2023 on a year-on-year basis was attributed to the increase in some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level. It said these increases were observed in food and non-alcoholic beverages at 14.16 per cent and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel at 4.57 per cent.
Others were clothing and footwear at 2.09 per cent, transport at 1.78 per cent, furnishings, household equipment and maintenance at 1.37 per cent, education at 1.08 per cent, and health at 0.82 per cent.
Miscellaneous goods and services at 0.45 per cent, restaurant and hotels at 0.33 per cent, alcoholic beverage, tobacco and kola at 0.30 per cent, recreation and culture at 0.19 per cent, and communication at 0.19 per cent, NBS reported.
In addition, the report said, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in October 2023 was 1.73 per cent, which was 0.37 per cent lower than the rate recorded in September 2023 at 2.10 per cent. In October 2023, the rate of increase in the average price level was less than the rate of increase in the average price level in September 2023.
The NBS noted that the percentage change in the average CPI for the 12 months ending October 2023 over the average for the previous corresponding 12-month period was 23.44 per cent, indicating a 5.57 per cent increase compared to 17.86 per cent recorded in October 2022. The report said the food inflation rate in October increased to 31.52 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 7.80 per cent higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2022 at 23.72 per cent.
Increases in prices of oil and fats, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, yams and other tubers, fruits, meat, vegetables, milk, cheese and eggs cause the rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis, according to the latest report.
On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in October was 1.91 per cent, a 0.54 per cent drop compared to the rate recorded in September 2023 at 2.45 per cent, stated NBS.
The report added that a decrease in the average prices of fruits, oil and fats, coffee, tea and cocoa, bread and cereals caused the decline in food inflation month-on-month.
It said all items less farm produce and energy or core inflation, which excluded the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 22.58 per cent in October on a year-on-year basis, increasing by 5.12 per cent compared to 17.46 per cent recorded in October 2022.
The report stressed that the exclusion of petrol was due to the deregulation of the commodity by removal of subsidy. NBS said the highest increases were recorded in prices of passenger transport by road, medical services, passenger transport by air, actual and imputed rentals for housing, pharmaceutical products, etc.
The NBS said the core inflation rate was 1.39 per cent in October 2023 on a month-on-month basis, indicating a 0.83 per cent drop compared to what was recorded in September 2023 at 2.22 per cent.
The average 12-month annual inflation rate was 19.98 per cent for the 12 months ending October 2023. This was 4.60 per cent points higher than the 15.38 per cent recorded in October 2022. The report said on a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate was 29.29 per cent in October, which was 7.66 per cent higher compared to the 21.63 per cent recorded in October 2022. NAN