Nigeria: Inflation Falls by 0.53% to 15.37% in December 2017

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Data released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that inflation in Nigeria moderated further in December 2017 by 0.53 percent.

According to the stats office, the rate declined to 15.37 percent in December 2017 from 15.90 percent in November 2017.

This was the eleventh consecutive disinflation (slowdown in the inflation rate though still positive) in headline year on year inflation since January 2017.

NBS noted that increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yield the Headline Index.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.59 percent in December 2017, 0.19 percent points higher from the rate of 0.78 percent recorded in November.

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12-month period ending in December 2017 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12-month period was 16.50 percent, showing 0.26 percent point lower from 16.76 percent recorded in November 2017.

The urban inflation rate rose by 15.78 percent (year-on-year) in December from 16.27 percent recorded in November, while the Rural inflation rate also eased by 15.02 percent in December from 15.59 percent in November, the stats office said.

On month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 0.66 percent in December, down by 0.19 from 0.85 percent recorded in November, while the rural index rose by 0.54 percent in December, down by 0.18 when compared with 0.72 percent in November, it added.

The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index was 16.92 percent in December.

This is less than 17.26 percent reported in November 2017, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in December is 16.10 percent compared to 16.29 percent recorded in November 2017, the NBS said in its today’s report.