The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that Nigeria’s inflation rate for the month of October dropped to 15.99 percent year-on-year.
According to the monthly report of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation and released on Monday in Abuja, the October figure was in contrast to 16.63 percent recorded in September 2021.
The NBS explained that Nigeria’s inflation rate has dropped for the seventh straight month.
The report showed that there were increases recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.
“On month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 0.98 percent in October 2021, this is 0.17 percent rate lower than the rate recorded in September 2021 (1.15) percent.
“The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending October 2021 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 16.96 per cent, showing 0.13 percent point from 16.83 percent recorded in September 2021.
“The urban inflation rate increased by 16.52 percent (year-on-year) in October 2021 from 14.81 percent recorded in October 2020, while the rural inflation rate increased by 15.48 percent in October 2021 from 13.68 percent in October 2020,” local media reports quoted the NBS as saying.
According to the report, on a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.02 percent in October 2021, down by 0.19 percentage point the rate recorded in September 2021 (1.21) percent, while the rural index also rose by 0.95 percent in October 2021, down by 0.15 percentage point the rate that was recorded in September 2021 (1.10) percent.
It added that the 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index was 17.53 percent in October 2021.
The NBS explained that the figure is higher than 17.41 percent reported in September 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in October 2021 is 16.39 percent compared to the 16.26 percent recorded in September 2021.
It stated that the composite food index rose by 18.34 percent in October 2021 compared to the 17.38 percent recorded in October 2020 and attributed the rise in the food index to the increases in prices of food products, coffee, tea and cocoa, milk, cheese and eggs, bread and cereals, vegetables and potatoes, yam and other tubers.
On month-on-month basis, however, the food sub-index increased by 0.91 percent in October 2021, down by 0.35 percent points from 1.26 percent recorded in September 2021.
“The average annual rate of change of the food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending October 2021 over the previous twelve-month average was 20.75 percent, 0.04 percent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in September 2021 (20.71) percent,” the NBS added.
GIK/APA