Nigeria’s inflation rate increases to 31.70% in February – NBS

The inflation rate has moved to 31.70 per cent in February, according to the latest data released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The latest data is showing sharp rise from the 29.90 per cent recorded in January 2024.

According to the ‘Consumer Price Index and Inflation Report’ for February, the hike represented a 1.80 per cent increase from what was recorded in January.

The report reads, “In February 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 31.70 per cent relative to the January 2024 headline inflation rate which was 29.90 per cent.”

Comparatively, on an annual basis, February 2024’s inflation rate was 9.79 per cent higher than the 21.91 per cent recorded in February 2023.

Also, the month-on-month headline inflation rate in February 2024 reached 3.12%, an increase of 0.48% from January 2024’s rate of 2.64%.

This indicates that the pace at which average prices rose in February 2024 exceeded the rate of price increase in January 2024.

The NBS further stated, “Looking at the movement, the February 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 1.80 percent points when compared to the January 2024 headline inflation rate. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 9.79 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023, which was 21.91 percent.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in the month of February 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., February 2023).

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in February 2024 was 3.12 percent, which was 0.48 percent higher than the rate recorded in January 2024 (2.64 percent).”