A report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday has revealed that Nigeria’s inflation rate rose by 0.89% to 17.61% in May from 16.82% in April 2022. This is an 11-month high in a year-on-year comparison from May 2021.
Food inflation
The May report showed that food inflation in Africa’s largest economy rose to 19.5%, an upward change from 18.37% in April 2022. This rise was due to increases in the prices of foods such as bread, meat, yam, bread, oils, etc.
Core inflation
The core inflation rate experienced a 0.72% rise to 14.9% from the 14.18% of the previous month. And 1.75% higher than the 13.15% recorded in May 2021 when compared on a year-on-year basis. The items with the most hiked prices include prices of gas, Liquid fuel, garment, solid fuel, cleaning, repair and hire of clothing and passenger transport by road.
State inflation
Bauchi State recorded the highest inflation rates with 20.62% in the month under review, Akwa Ibom followed in second place with a rate of 20.34% while Rivers State rounded up the top three states with 19.95%.
What this means
The rise in inflation rate in Nigeria implies that the cost of goods and services are rising while the purchasing power of Nigerians is diminishing. Although inflation is not new to any country’s economy, the rate at which it is rising concerns individuals and businesses. To slow down the rising rates, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in May 2022 pitched the interest rates at 11.5% from 13%.