Nigeria’s inflation rate eases to 21.34% in December 2022, first drop in 11 months
The consumer price index (CPI) that measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, eased to 21.34 per cent in December 2022, down from 21.47 per cent in the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report.
The NBS report which was released on Monday shows on a month-on-month basis, this is the first time the inflation rate is decreasing in the last eleven months.
Compared to November 2022, the rate dropped by 0.12% points, representing a 5.72% points increase compared to 15.63% recorded in the corresponding period of last year.
The latest figure, however, is still high when compared to December 2021, when inflation rate stood at 15.63 per cent before dropping to 15.60 per cent in January 2022.
NBS said the December 2022 inflation rate showed a decline of 0.13 per cent when compared to the figure of November 2022.
“However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.72 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2021, which was (15.63 per cent). This shows that the headline inflation rate increased in the month of December 2022 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., December 2021),” the report reads.
“On a month-on-month basis, the percentage change in the ‘all items index’ in December 2022 was 1.71 per cent, which was 0.32 per cent higher than the rate recorded in November 2022 (1.39 per cent). This means that in the month of December 2022, the general price level was 0.32 per cent higher relative to November 2022.
“The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending December 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 18.85 per cent, showing 1.89 per cent increase compared to the 16.95 per cent recorded in December 2021.”
Food inflation, a closely watched indices, fell to 23.75% in December 2022 from 24.13% recorded in the previous month.
But on a year-on-year basis, the figure is 6.38 per cent higher in relation to December, 2021.
“The food inflation rate in December 2022 was 23.75 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 6.38 per cent higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2021 (17.37 per cent),” the report said.
“The rise in the food inflation was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, oil and fat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, food product, etc.
“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in December was 1.89 per cent, this was 0.49 per cent higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2022 (1.40 per cent). This increase was attributed to increase in prices of some food items like oil and fat, fish, potatoes & tubers, bread and cereals, and fruits etc.”
The report added that the average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending December 2022 over the previous twelve-month average was 20.94 per cent, which was a 0.53 per cent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in December 2021 (20.40 per cent).
