Food Prices Soar As Inflation Hits 32.70 Percent Under Tinubu’s Watch

Nigeria’s headline inflation increased to 32.70 percent in September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown.

According to the NBS, the headline inflation rate was 5.98 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2023 (26.72 percent).

“This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in September 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., September 2023). Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.52 percent, which was 0.30 percent higher than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.22 percent). This means that in September 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2024.”

It further stated that food inflation was 37.77 percent on a year-on-year basis, 7.13 percent points higher than the rate recorded in September 2023 (30.64 percent).

It noted that the rise in food inflation was caused by increases in prices of guinea corn, rice, maize grains, beans, etc (bread and cereals class), yam, water yam, cassava tuber, etc (potatoes, yam & other tubers class), beer (local and foreign) (tobacco class), lipton, milo, bournvita, etc (coffee, tea & cocoa class) and vegetable oil, palm oil (oil & fats class), among others.

“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.64 percent which shows a 0.27 percent increase compared to the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.37 percent). The rise can be attributed to the rate of increase in the average prices of beer (local and foreign) (tobacco class), vegetable oil, groundnut oil, palm oil, etc (oil & fats class), beef, gizzard, dried beef, etc (meat class), lipton, milo, bournvita, etc (coffee, tea & cocoa class) and milk, egg etc (milk, cheese and eggs class).

“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending september 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 37.53 percent, which was 11.88 percent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in September 2023 (25.65 percent),” it added.