Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that Nigeria’s inflation rate increased to 33.2% in March 2024.
The increase in the inflation rate indicates a 1.5% increase from the 31.7% recorded in February. It also signifies that the March inflation rate was slower than the 1.80% increase recorded in February 2024.
Massive increments in the prices of food and beverages, as well as energy and housing costs, are responsible for the inflation in March. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate increased by 11.16% from 22.04% in March 2023. Additionally, the headline inflation rate for March 2024 was 3.02%, a decrease of 0.10% from February 2024, when it was 3.12%.
The hike in food prices can be traced to increased prices for items such as gari, millet, and kapu uncooked fermented alongside costs in yam tuber, water yam, and others.
The month-to-month inflation rate shows that the inflation for March stands at 3.62, signifying a decline of 0.17% from February 2024, when it was 3.79%. For the twelve months ending March 2024, the average annual food inflation rate was 31.40%, up 8.69% points from 22.72% in the preceding twelve months ending March 2023.
Urban inflation in March reached 35.18% year on year, up 12.11% from 23.07% in March 2023. The urban inflation rate in March 2024 was 3.17%, down 0.0001% from February 2024, which was likewise 3.17%.
The rural inflation rate in March 2024 was 31.45% year on year, up 10.37 percentage points from 21.09% in March 2023. Monthly, the rural inflation rate fell by 0.20% to 2.87% in March 2024, down from 3.07% in February.
Core inflation in March 2024 was 25.90% yearly, up 6.26% from 19.63% in March 2023.
This eliminates the costs of volatile agricultural products and energy.
The monthly core inflation rate in March 2024 was 2.54%, up from 2.17% in February 2024. The average annual inflation rate for the 12 months ending March 2024 was 22.26%, 5.04% higher than the 17.22% reported in March 2023.
