Nigeria’s inflation rate reached 33.88% in October 2024, rising from 32.70% in September, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report published by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday.
This marks a month-on-month increase of 1.18 percentage points, signaling a relentless climb in the cost of living for Nigerians.
On an annual basis, the October 2024 inflation rate was 6.55 percentage points higher than the 27.33% recorded in the same month of 2023. The executive summary of the report highlighted this sharp rise:
“On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in October 2024 was 2.64 per cent, which was 0.12 per cent higher than the rate recorded in September 2024 (2.52 per cent). This means that in October 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in September 2024.”
Food inflation also rose steeply, climbing to 2.94% month-on-month in October, up from 2.64% in September.
According to the NBS, this increase was primarily driven by surges in the prices of staple items such as palm oil, vegetable oil, various types of fish like mudfish and croaker, dried beef, goat meat, mutton, and bread, as well as cereals including rice and plantain flour.
“The rise can be attributed to the rate of increase in the average prices of Palm Oil, Vegetable oil, etc (Oil & Fats Class), Mudfish, Croaker (Apo), Fresh fish (Obokun), etc (Fish Class), Dried Beef, Goat Meat, Mutton, Skin meat, etc (Meat Class), and Bread, Guinea Corn flour, Plantain flour, Rice, etc (Bread and Cereals Class),” the report stated.
Over the 12 months leading to October 2024, the average annual food inflation rate was 38.12%, an 11.79 percentage point increase compared to October 2023, which had an annual average of 26.33%.
Economic analysts had earlier projected an inflation surge to 33.48% in October due to mounting economic pressures.
These include the removal of fuel subsidies, depreciation of the naira, high transportation costs, and persistent security challenges affecting agricultural productivity. Seasonal flooding in key farming regions has also worsened food shortages, further exacerbating inflation.
Earlier in 2024, inflation showed erratic movements. It surged to 33.2% in March from 31.7% in February, peaked at a 30-year high of 34.19% in June, and then declined slightly during the harvest season.
However, inflationary pressures reemerged in September, largely fueled by rising energy costs. Petrol prices, for instance, jumped from N980 to about N1,050 per litre in Lagos, with even higher prices in other regions.
Food prices have consistently driven the headline inflation rate upward. In September, food inflation hit 37.77% year-on-year, marginally higher than the 37.52% recorded in August.
Analysts attribute these increases to several factors, including heightened insecurity, escalating farm input costs, and devastating floods in major food-producing areas.
Looking ahead, economists warn that inflation may climb above 35% by December, driven by higher energy prices and ongoing structural issues in the economy.
