Nigeria’s inflation rate reached 32.70% in September 2024, a rise from the 32.15% recorded in August 2024, representing an increase of 0.55% month-on-month.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, showing that inflation in September was driven by higher transport costs and food prices. This rise follows petrol price increases by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) since early September.
Compared to the same period last year, the inflation rate was 5.98 percentage points higher than the 26.72% recorded in September 2023, indicating a significant rise over the past year.
Month-on-month, the headline inflation rate in September 2024 stood at 2.52%, slightly higher than the 2.22% recorded in August, showing a faster price increase in September.
“In September 2024, the Headline inflation rate was 32.70% relative to the August 2024 headline inflation rate of 32.15%. Looking at the movement, the September 2024 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.55% compared to the August 2024 Headline inflation rate.
“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 5.98% points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2023 (26.72%). This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-onyear basis) increased in September 2024 when compared to the year-on year in the preceding year (i.e., September 2023).
“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.52%, which was 0.30% higher than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.22%). This means that in September 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2024,” the report reads.
Food inflation reached 37.77% year-on-year in September 2024, an increase of 7.13 percentage points from the 30.64% recorded in September 2023. Month-on-month, food inflation was 2.64%, up from 2.37% in August.
The rise in food prices was linked to higher costs for items like beer, vegetable oils, beef, and products like Lipton and Milo.
Core inflation, which excludes agricultural and energy prices, stood at 27.43% year-on-year in September 2024, up from 21.84% in September 2023. Major price increases were seen in housing rents, transport fares, and meals in local restaurants.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation was 2.10% in September, slightly down from 2.27% in August.
Urban inflation rose to 2.67% in September 2024, up from 2.39% in August, while rural inflation increased to 2.39%, compared to 2.06% in the previous month.
