Latest data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown that headline inflation rose to 34.80% in December 2024 relative to the November 2024 headline inflation rate of 34.60%.

The food inflation rate in December 2024 was 39.84% on a year-on-year basis, a 5.91% points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2023 (33.93%).

The NBS said the rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of some food items, including yam, sweet potatoes and beer.

The December 2024 inflation figure indicated a marginal increase of 0.20% compared to the November 2024 inflation rate. “This was due to December festive period increases in demand for goods and services,” the bureau said in a statement on its X handle on Wednesday.

On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.87% higher than the rate recorded in December 2023 (28.92%). This shows that the inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in December 2024 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., December 2023).

On the contrary, the month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in December 2024 was 2.44%, which was 0.20% lower than the rate recorded in November 2024 (2.64%).

This means that in December 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is slightly lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in November 2024.