In continuation of an upward trend over the last few months, Nigeria’s inflation rate further rose to 16.82% in April 2022, the highest rate since August 2022. This is contained in the recent report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Driving the news
The April report showed that food inflation in Africa’s most populous nation rose to 18.37% from 17.2% in April 2022. This rise was due to increases in the prices of foods such as meat, yam, bread, oils, etc.
- The core inflation rate experienced a 0.29% rise to 14.18% in April 2022 from 13.91% recorded in the preceding month, March. This is as a result of an increase in gas, fuel, clothing materials and other base materials.
- States in Nigeria with the highest all items inflation rate based on a year-on-year rating are Bauchi (18.93%), Ebonyi (18.88%), and Akwa Ibom (18.80%), while states with the lowest rise in all items inflation are Sokoto (14.65%), Kwara (15.33%) and Kaduna (15.69%).
- In terms of food, the Nigerian states with the highest year-on-year food index are Kogi State (22.79%), Kwara State (21.56%) and Ebonyi State (21.45%) while states with the lowest rise in year-on-year food inflation are Sokoto State (14.85%), Kaduna State (15.55%) and Anambra State (16.68%).
What this means
High inflation rate means a significant increase in the cost of living in the country, invariably threatening the purchasing power of citizens. Low purchasing power results in the depreciation of Nigeria’s currency and a potential crash of the nation’s economy.