The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday disclosed that the inflation rate in Nigeria gained 7.58 percentage points in 2023 when it increased to 28.92 percent in December 2023 from 21.34 percent reported in December 2022.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) reported by NBS showed that 28.92 percent in December 2023 is relative to the November 2023 headline inflation rate which was 28.20 per cent.

According to NBS, “Looking at the movement, the December 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.72 per cent points when compared to the November 2023 headline inflation rate.

“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 7.58 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2022, which was 21.34 per cent.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in December 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., December 2022).

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in December 2023 was 2.29 percent, which was 0.20 percent higher than the rate recorded in November 2023 (2.09 percent).

“This means that in December 2023, the rate of increase in the average price level is more than the rate of increase in the average price level in November 2023.”

NBS stated that the percentage change in the average CPI for the 12-month ending December 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 24.66 percent, showing a 5.81 percent increase compared to 18.85 percent recorded in December 2022.

On urban inflation, the NBS report stated that “On a year-on-year basis, in December 2023, the Urban inflation rate was 31.00 percent, this was 8.98 percentage points higher compared to the 22.01 percent recorded in December 2022.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate was 2.42 percent in December 2023, this was 0.19 percent points higher compared to November 2023 (2.23 percent).”

“The corresponding 12-month average for the Urban inflation rate was 26.22 percent in December 2023. This was 6.83 percentage points higher compared to the 19.38 percent reported in December 2022.”

For rural Inflation, it said, “The Rural inflation rate in December 2023 was 27.10 percent on a year-on-year basis; this was 6.38 percent higher compared to the 20.72 percent recorded in December 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the Rural inflation rate in December 2023 was 2.17 percent, up by 0.18percentage points compared to November 2023 (1.99 per cent).

“The corresponding 12-month average for the Rural inflation rate in December 2023 was 23.25 per cent. This was 4.91per cent higher compared to the 18.34 per cent recorded in December 202.”