Nigeria's Inflation Climbs to 32.70% in September 2024 Amid Rising Food and Transport Costs
Nigeria's inflation rate in September 2024 reached 32.70%, up from 32.15% in August 2024, representing a 0.55% month-on-month increase. This data, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, highlights that the rise in inflation was largely driven by higher transportation and food costs. On a year-on-year basis, inflation in September 2024 was 5.98 percentage points higher than the 26.72% recorded in September 2023, demonstrating a notable rise over the past year.
In terms of month-on-month comparisons, the inflation rate for September 2024 stood at 2.52%, which was 0.30% higher than the 2.22% rate seen in August 2024. This indicates that the rate of price increases accelerated between August and September 2024.
Food Inflation
The year-on-year food inflation rate for September 2024 was 37.77%, up by 7.13 percentage points from 30.64% in September 2023. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation in September 2024 was recorded at 2.64%, slightly higher than the 2.37% in August 2024, marking a 0.27% increase.
The rise in food prices is attributed to increased costs in items like local and imported beer, various cooking oils (vegetable, groundnut, and palm oil), and meats such as beef and gizzard. Additionally, popular products like Lipton, Milo, and Bournvita also saw price hikes.
The average annual food inflation for the 12-month period ending in September 2024 was 37.53%, a significant increase of 11.88 percentage points from 25.65% in the same period the previous year.
Core Inflation
Core inflation, which excludes the volatile prices of agricultural goods and energy, reached 27.43% year-on-year in September 2024, up 5.59 percentage points from 21.84% in September 2023. Significant price increases were noted in categories like housing rent, transportation (including intercity bus fares and taxis), and dining out.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation stood at 2.10% in September 2024, slightly lower than the 2.27% recorded in August 2024.
Urban and Rural Inflation in September
In September 2024, the urban inflation rate was 2.67%, reflecting a 0.28 percentage point increase from 2.39% in August 2024. Meanwhile, rural inflation rose to 2.39%, a 0.33 percentage point jump from 2.06% in August 2024.
These inflationary trends follow a rise in petrol prices, which began earlier in September 2024 due to actions taken by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).