Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Climbs to 33.88% in October 2024

In October 2024, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate surged to 33.88%, marking an increase from 32.7% in September 2024. This represents a 1.18 percentage point rise month-on-month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. The rise in inflation is primarily attributed to higher transportation costs and food price hikes.

Year-on-Year Inflation Increase

Comparing October 2024 to the same month in 2023, inflation has risen significantly by 6.55 percentage points, from 27.33% in October 2023. On a month-on-month basis, inflation in October 2024 stood at 2.64%, reflecting a slight increase from the 2.52% recorded in September 2024. This indicates that the price level increase in October was higher than in the previous month.

Food Inflation Trends

Food inflation has been particularly notable. In October 2024, the food inflation rate stood at 39.16%, a substantial 7.64 percentage point increase compared to 31.52% in October 2023. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation rose to 2.94%, up from 2.64% in September 2024. This rise was driven by increased prices in various food items, including vegetable oils, beef, and popular food products like Lipton and Milo.

The average annual food inflation for the 12 months ending in October 2024 was 38.12%, reflecting an 11.79 percentage point increase from 26.33% in the previous year.

Core Inflation Overview

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural and energy prices, stood at 28.37% year-on-year in October 2024. This marks a 5.79 percentage point increase from the 22.58% recorded in October 2023. Major contributors to the rise in core inflation include transportation costs (bus, motorcycle, and intercity journeys), housing rents, and personal grooming services like haircuts and hairstyling.

On a month-on-month basis, core inflation increased by 0.04%, reaching 2.14% in October 2024, compared to 2.10% in September 2024. The average twelve-month core inflation rate for the period ending October 2024 was 26.12%, an increase of 6.14 percentage points from 19.98% in October 2023.

Urban and Rural Inflation

Urban inflation in October 2024 reached 36.38%, a significant 7.09 percentage point increase from 29.29% in the previous year. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation was 2.75%, up slightly from 2.67% in September 2024. The twelve-month average urban inflation rate stood at 34.52%, an increase of 9.76 percentage points compared to 24.76% in October 2023.

In rural areas, the inflation rate for October 2024 was 31.59%, up by 6.01 percentage points from 25.58% in October 2023. Month-on-month, rural inflation was 2.53%, slightly higher than the 2.39% recorded in September. The twelve-month average rural inflation rate was 30.24%, a rise of 8.01 percentage points from 22.23% in the previous year.