Nigeria’s headline inflation further eased to 32.15 per cent in August. This is 1.25 per cent lower than the rate in July which was 33.40 per cent.
This is even as food inflation also dropped from 39.53 per cent in July to 37.52 per cent in August 2024.
Although on year-on-year this is 8.18 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 which was 29.34 per cent.
The National Bureau of Statistics in its August 2024 Consumer Price Index (CPI) result released on Monday noted that the August 2024 headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.25 per cent points when compared to the July 2024 headline inflation rate. However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 when it was 25.80 per cent.
The NBS said one of the main drivers of inflation in the country remains high cost of food. According to the NBS, the rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of Bread, Maize, Grains, Guinea Corn, etc which are in the bread and cereals Class; Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, Palm Oil and Vegetable as well as beverages like Ovaltine, Milo, Lipton, etc.
Nigeria has witnessed a consistent rise in inflation over the last 16 months. The current downward trend is believed to be driven by the drop in some food items because of the harvest season.