By Chidi Ugwu
The latest report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates that the the headline Inflation rate for November 2024, on a year-on-year basis, increased to 34.60% relative to the October 2024 headline inflation rate of 33.88%.
Looking at the headline trend, the November 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.72% points compared to the October 2024 headline inflation rate. Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.40% points higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2023 (28.20%).
The increase in the headline index for November 2024 was attributed to the rise in the average price of some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level.
These increases were observed in Food and non-alcoholic Beverages (17.92%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & other Fuel (5.79%), Clothing & Footwear (2.65%), Transport (2.25%), Furnishings & Household Equipment & maintenance (1.74%), Education (1.36%) and Health (1.04%).
Also, Miscellaneous Goods & Services (0.58%), Restaurants & Hotels (0.42%), Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco & Kola (0.38%), Recreation & Culture (0.24%) and Communication (0.24%).
Contrarily, on a month-over-month basis, the headline inflation rate in November 2024 also rose to 2.638%, which was 0.002% marginally lower than the rate recorded in October 2024 (2.640%).
This means that in November 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is slightly lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in October 2024.
The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending November 2024 over the average for the previous twelve-month period was 32.77%, showing an 8.76% increase compared to 24.01% recorded in November 2023.
The Food inflation rate in November 2024 was 39.93% on a year-on-year basis, 7.08% points higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2023 (32.84%).
The rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of the following items Yam, Water Yam, Coco Yam, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Guinea Corn, Maize Grains, Rice, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Beer, Pinto (Tobacco Class), and Palm Oil, Vegetable Oil, etc (Oil and Fats Class).
Likewise, on a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in November 2024 was 2.98% which shows a 0.05% increase compared to the rate recorded in October 2024 (2.94%).
The rise can be attributed to the rate of increase in the average prices of Mudfish, Catfish Dried, Dried Fish Sadine, etc (Fish Class), Rice, Yam Flour, Millet Whole grain, Corn flour, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Agric Egg, Powered Milk, Fresh Milk, etc (Milk, cheese and eggs Class) and Dried Beef, Goat Meat, Frozen Chicken, etc (Meat Class)
The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending November 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 38.67%, which was 11.58% points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in November 2023 (27.09%).
Core inflation, which is “All items less farm produces and energy” (that is it excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produces and energy) stood at 28.75% in November 2024 on a year-on-year basis; up by 6.36% when compared to the 22.38% recorded in November 2023.
The highest increases were recorded in prices of the following items, Taxi journey per drop, Bus journey intercity, Journey by motorcycle, etc (under Passenger Transport by Road Class), Rents (Actual and Imputed Rentals for Housing Class), Meal at a local Restaurant (Accommodation Service Class), and hair cut service, women’s hairdressing, etc (Hairdressing salons & personal grooming establishments Class).
Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the Core Inflation rate was 1.83% in November 2024, fell by 0.30% compared to 2.14% in October 2024.
The average twelve-month annual inflation rate was 26.64% for the twelve months ending November 2024, this was 6.29% points higher than the 20.35% recorded in November 2023.
The Urban consumer’s inflation rate on a year-on-year basis stood at 37.10% for November 2024, this shows a 6.88% point higher compared to the 30.21% recorded in the corresponding month in the year 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate grew by 2.77% in November 2024, which shows an increase of 0.02% compared to 2.75% in October 2024.
The twelve-month average annual inflation rate ending November 2024 over the corresponding twelve-month period, Urban inflation rate was 35.07%.
This was 9.62% points higher compared to the 25.45% reported in November 2023.
The Rural consumer’s sub-index in November 2024 was 32.27% on a year-on-year basis.
This was 5.84% higher compared to the 26.43% recorded in November 2023. On a month-on-month basis, the Rural sub-index in November 2024 was 2.51%, down by 0.02% points compared to October 2024 (2.53%).
The twelve-month average annual inflation rate ending November 2024 over the corresponding twelve-month period, Rural inflation rate was 30.71%. This was 8.00% higher compared to 22.71% recorded in November 2023.
The analyses of the states show that the all-item index for November 2024, on a year-on-year basis was highest in Bauchi (46.21%), Kebbi (42.41%), Anambra (40.48%), while Delta (27.47%), Benue (28.98%) and Katsina (29.57%) recorded the lowest rise in Headline inflation on Year-on-Year basis.
On a month-on-month basis, November 2024 recorded highest increases in Yobe (5.14%), Kebbi (5.10%), Kano (4.88%), while Adamawa (0.95%), Osun (1.12%) and Kogi (1.29%) recorded the slowest rise.
State-level analyses of the food index in November 2024, on a year-on-year basis, showed the highest increases in Sokoto (51.30%), Yobe (49.69%), Edo (47.77%), while Kwara (31.39%), Kogi (32.95%), and Rivers (33.27%) recorded the slowest rise.
On a month-on-month basis, however, November 2024 Food inflation was highest in Yobe (6.52%), Kano (5.95%), and Kebbi (5.68%) while Borno (0.76%), Adamawa (0.90%) and Kogi (1.21%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation.
