Inflation in Nigeria Slows to 17.01% in August

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel

The consumer price index (CPI), which measures the level of inflation rate in the country, moderated to 17.01 per cent (year-on-year) in August 2021.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday in its CPI report for August 2021 revealed that inflation in the period under review was 0.37 per cent lower than the 17.38 per cent reported in July.

This means for the fifth straight month, the average prices of goods and services in the country have slowed despite sharp increases in the value of items.

According to the stats office, the composite food index also slowed in August by 20.3 per cent month-on-month compared with the 21.03 per cent achieved a month earlier.

The agency said the prices in bread and cereals, milk, cheese and egg, oils and fats, potatoes, yam and other tubers, food products slightly rose in the period under consideration.

However, the food sub-index went up by 1.06 per cent within the review period, which indicates a 0.2 per cent jump from the 0.86 per cent recorded in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the highest increases of price were recorded in prices of shoes and other footwear, household textile, motor cars, garments, game of chance, major household appliances whether electric or not, hospital services, and catering services.

The highest cost of goods was also recorded in prices of appliances, articles, and products for personal care and clothing materials, other articles of clothing and clothing accessories.

A look at the headline index showed that it increased month-on-month by 1.02 per cent, This showed a 0.09  per cent higher rate from the 0.93 per cent recorded in July.

The urban inflation rate moderated to 17.6 per cent (year-on-year) in August 2021 from 18.01 per cent recorded in July this year, while the rural inflation rate increased by 16.4 per cent compared with 16.7  per cent a month earlier.

However, on a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.06 per cent in contrast to the 0.98 published in July, while the rural index also rose by 0.12 to 0.99 per cent from 0.87per cent.