Kogi, Ekiti and Kwara states have retained the position of states with the most expensive food items as food inflation rose to 40.66 per cent in May.
This was disclosed on Saturday in the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The statistics hub revealed that Nigeria’s inflation rate surged to 33.95 per cent in May 2024, up from 33.69 per cent reported in April 2024.
This shows a minimal 0.26 per cent point rise, suggesting a slower rate of price increase compared to the previous month which rose by 2.14 per cent.
The report said, “In May 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 33.95 per cent relative to the April 2024 headline inflation rate which was 33.69 per cent. Looking at the movement, the May 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.26 per cent points when compared to the April 2024 headline inflation rate.
“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.54 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in May 2023, which was 22.41 per cent. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in May 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year
“On the contrary, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in May 2024 was 2.14 per cent which was 0.15 per cent lower than the rate recorded in April 2024 (2.29th per cent). This means that in May 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is less than the rate of increase in the average price level in April 2024.”
The major contributing items to headline inflation in May 2024 include food and non-alcoholic beverages by 17.59 per cent, housing, water, and electricity, gas & other fuel contributed 5.68 per cent while clothing and footwear stood at 2.60 per cent.
Revealing the rate of increase in the country’s food inflation, NBS revealed that the May food inflation rate reached 40.66 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
The sharp rise in food prices has been attributed to a range of factors affecting various food categories.
The items contributing most to this inflation include Semovita, Oatflake, Yam flour pre-packaged, Garri, Bean, Irish Potatoes, Yam, and Water Yam, amongst others.
Food inflation on a Year-on-Year basis was highest in Kogi (46.32 per cent), Ekiti (44.94 per cent), Kwara (44.66 per cent), while Adamawa (31.72 per cent), Bauchi (34.35 per cent) and Borno (34.74 per cent), recorded the slowest rise.
Subsequently, on a Month-on-Month basis, food inflation was highest in Gombe (4.88 per cent), Kano (4.68 per cent), and Bayelsa (3.62 per cent), while Ondo (0.02 per cent), Yobe (0.95 per cent) and Adamawa (1.02 per cent) recorded the slowest rise.