The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigeria’s inflation rate climbed to 15.92 per cent in March 2022, representing a 0.22 per cent rise in comparison with February’s 15.7 per cent.
The NBS disclosed the latest inflation figures in its Consumer Price Index released on Friday, April 15, 2022.
According to the CPI, the composite food index climbed Year-on-Year (YoY) by 0.09 per cent points to 17.20 in March 2022 in comparison with February 2022’s 17.11 per cent.
The bureau stated that the increase in the food index was due to an increase in the price of bread, cereals, and other foodstuffs.
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Excerpts from the CPI reads, “In March 2022, the CPI which measures inflation increased to 15.92 per cent on a YoY basis. This is 2.25 per cent points lower compared to 18.17 per cent, the rate recorded in March 2021.
“This means that the headline inflation rate slowed down in March 2022 when compared to the same month in the previous year. Increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yielded the Headline index.
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“On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the Headline Index increased to 1.74 per cent in March 2022, this is 0.11 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in February 2022 (1.63 per cent).
“The Urban Inflation rate increased to 16.44 per cent YoY in March 2022 showing a decline of 2.32 per cent points from the rate recorded in March 2021 (18.76 per cent). In the same vein, the Rural Inflation increased to 15.42 per cent in March 2022 with a decrease of 2.18 per cent points from 17.60 per cent recorded in March 2021.
“On a MoM basis, the Urban Index rose to 1.76 per cent in March 2022, this was up by 0.11 per cent points from the rate recorded in February 2022 (1.65 per cent). The Rural Index rose to 1.73 per cent in March 2022, with a 0.12 per cent point increase from 1.61 per cent recorded in February 2022.”
On the food index, the bureau said: “The composite food index rose to 17.20 per cent in March 2022 compared to 22.95 per cent recorded in March 2021. This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, food products n.e.c, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, meat, oils and fats.
“On MoM basis, the food sub-index increased to 1.99 per cent in March 2022, this was up by 0.12 per cent points from 1.87 per cent points recorded in February 2022.“
