Despite the usual low spending patterns associated with January, Nigeria’s headline inflation surged to 29.90 percent, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This marked a 0.98 percent increase from December 2023, which itself set a 20-year record high for inflation.
The rise in January’s inflation was primarily driven by increases in the prices of bread, cereals, potatoes, yams, oils and fats, fish, meat, fruits, coffee, tea, and cocoa.
Food inflation also soared by 35.41 percent year-on-year, representing an 11.10 percent increase from January 2023’s rate of 24.32 percent. Meanwhile, Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural products and energy prices, stood at 23.59 percent in January 2024, marking a 4.71 percent rise from January 2023’s 18.88 percent.
The report highlighted significant increases in the prices of passenger transport by road, medical services, actual and imputed rentals for housing, pharmaceutical products, accommodation services, and passenger transport by air, among others.
