Inflation Rate Rises To 12.2%, Highest In 21 Months

The National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday said that the consumer price index, which measures inflation, rose by 12.20 per cent year-on-year in February.

The inflation rate of 12.2 per cent, according to the bureau, is 0.07 percentage points higher than the 12.13 per cent recorded in January.

The 12.2 per cent index is also the highest recorded by the economy in the last 21 months.

The NBS said the urban inflation rate stood at 12.85 per cent year-on-year in February, up from 12.78 per cent recorded in January this year.

On the other hand, the NBS report said rural inflation rate stood at 11.61 per cent in February, up from11.54 per cent recorded in January.

On a month-on-month basis, the report said the urban index rose by 0.82 per cent in February, down by 0.10 percentage points from the 0.92 per cent recorded in January.

It also said the rural index rose by 0.76 per cent in February, down by 0.07 from the 0.83 per cent recorded in January.

For food index, the report said this rose by 14.90 per cent in February compared to 14.85 per cent in January.

It attributed the rise in the food index to increases in prices of bread and cereals, fish, meat, vegetables, and oils and fats.

On a month-on-month basis, the NBS said the food sub-index increased by 0.87 per cent in February, down by 0.12 percentage points from the 13.86 per cent recorded in January.

The report said year-on-year inflation rate was the highest in Bauchi (14.47 per cent), Niger (14.06 per cent) and Plateau (13.98 per cent), while Borno (10.46 per cent), Abuja (9.68 per cent) and Kwara (9.59 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in index.

On a month-on-month basis, however, the NBS report stated that inflation was the highest in Kano (1.59 per cent), Benue (1.55 per cent) and Taraba (1.53 per cent), while Ondo, Ogun, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Bauchi and Anambra recorded negative inflation.