Abuja – Nigeria’s consumer price inflation rose in March amid soaring food prices, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in its report Friday.
The consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, increased to 15.92 percent in March from 15.70 per cent recorded in February. It is the highest rate in five months.
The increase was recorded against the backdrop of increase in prices of gas, bread, cereals, liquid fuel and other food products.
In recent weeks, Nigeria suffered incessant grid collapse which disrupted electricity supply and forced many businesses and households to spend more on alternative energy sources.
In the same vein, widespread insecurity especially in northern Nigeria has continued to threaten Nigeria’s food production and supply chains amid increase in global food prices due to Ukraine war disruptions.
Details
Increases were recorded in all divisions that yielded the Headline index, the NBS said.
The March inflation rate is 2.25 per cent points lower compared to 18.17 per cent, the rate recorded in March 2021.
This means that the headline inflation rate slowed down in March
2022 when compared to the same month in the previous year.
On a month-on-month basis, the Headline Index increased to 1.74 percent in March 2022, 0.11 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in February 2022 (1.63 per cent).
The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending March 2022 over the average previous twelve months period is 16.54 percent, which shows 0.19 per cent points decrease compared to 16.73 per cent recorded in February 2022.
The Urban Inflation rate increased to 16.44 per cent year-on-year in March 2022 showing a decline of 2.32 percent points from the rate recorded in March 2021 (18.76 per cent).
In the same vein, the Rural Inflation increased to 15.42 per cent in March 2022 with a decrease of 2.18 per cent points from 17.60 per cent recorded in March 2021.
On a month-on-month basis, the Urban Index rose to 1.76 per cent in March 2022, this was up by 0.11 per cent points from the rate recorded in February 2022 (1.65 per cent).
The Rural Index rose to 1.73 per cent in March 2022, with 0.12 per cent point increase from 1.61 per cent recorded in February 2022. (NAN/vitalnews)
