Inflation rate hits 22% in May 2023 — NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 22.41 percent in May 2023.

This is according to the NBS Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for May 2023, released in Abuja on Thursday.

According to the report, the figure is 0.19 percentage points higher compared to the 22.22 percent recorded in April 2023.

On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in May 2023 was 4.70 percent higher than the rate recorded in May 2022 at 17.71 percent.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (on a year-on-year basis) increased in May 2023compared to the same period in May 2022.”

The report said the contributions of items on the divisional level to the increase in the headline index are food and non-alcoholic beverages at 11.61 percent and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel at 3.75 percent.

Others include clothing and footwear at 1.71 percent; transport at 1.46 percent; furnishings, household equipment, and maintenance at 1.13 percent; education at 0.88 percent; and health at 0.67 percent.

“Miscellaneous goods and services at 0.37 percent; restaurants and hotels at 0.27 percent; alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and kola at 0.24 percent; recreation and culture at 0.15 percent; and communication at 0.15 percent.”

The percentage change in the average CPI for the 12 months ending May 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months was 21.20 percent.

“This indicates a 4.75 percent increase compared to the 16.45 percent recorded in May 2022.’’

It said increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.

The report said the food inflation rate in May 2023 was 24.82 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 5.33 percent higher compared to the rate recorded in May 2022 at 19.50 percent.

“The rise in food inflation is caused by increases in the prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yams, and other tubers, oil and fat, fish, vegetables, fruits, meat, and spirits.”

On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in May was 2.19 percent, which was a 0.06 percent rise compared to the rate recorded in April 2023 at 2.13 percent.

The report said "all items less farm produce," or "core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 20.06 percent in May 2023 on a year-on-year basis.

“This increased by 5.16 percent compared to 14.90 percent recorded in May 2022.’’

“On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 1.81 percent in May 2023, which was a 0.37 percent rise compared to what it stood at in April 2023 at 1.46 percent.”

According to the report, the highest increases were recorded in the prices of gas, passenger transport by air, liquid fuel, fuels, lubricants for personal transport equipment, and vehicle spare parts.

“Others are passenger transport by road and medical services, among others.

“The average 12-month annual inflation rate was 17.33 percent for the 12 months ending May 2023; this was 4.50 percentage points higher than the 13.83 percent recorded in May 2022.”