Nigeria’s inflation rate for December 2023 increased to 28.92%, up from 28.20% in the previous month, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This marks the eleventh consecutive rise in the inflation rate since February 2023.
Examining the trend, the headline inflation rate experienced a 0.72 percentage points increase compared to November 2023. On a year-on-year basis, December 2023 showed a substantial increase of 7.58% points from December 2022, which had a headline inflation rate of 21.34%.
In terms of month-on-month comparison, the headline inflation rate for December 2023 reached 2.29%, surpassing November 2023 by 0.20%. This indicates a higher rate of increase in the average price level in December 2023 compared to the previous month.
Food Inflation:
- Year-on-year food inflation rose to 33.93% in December 2023, driven by increased prices of oil and fat, meat, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam, other tubers, fish, and milk, cheese, and eggs.
- This represents an increase of 10.18% points compared to December 2022.
- On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate for December 2023 reached 2.72%, a 0.30% increase from November 2023.
Core Inflation:
- The year-on-year core inflation rate for December 2023 was 23.06%, marking a 4.85% increase from December 2022.
- Significant surges were observed in the prices of passenger transport by road, medical services, actual and imputed rentals for housing, passenger transport by air, pharmaceutical products, accommodation services, and more.
- On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate for December 2023 was 1.82%, a 0.29% increase from November 2023.
The average twelve-month annual inflation rate stood at 20.76% for the twelve months ending December 2023, marking a 4.74% point increase from December 2022.
Urban and Rural Inflation:
- For December 2023, the year-on-year urban inflation rate surged to 31.00%, showing an increase of 8.98% points compared to December 2022.
- On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate for December 2023 reached 2.42%, a 0.19% point rise from November 2023.
- In December 2023, the year-on-year rural inflation rate rose to 27.10%, marking a 6.38% increase from December 2022.
- On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate for December 2023 reached 2.17%, reflecting a 0.18% point uptick compared to November 2023.
The corresponding twelve-month average for the rural inflation rate in December 2023 stood at 23.25%, representing a 4.91% increase from December 2022.
