Nigeria: Inflation Moderates to 11.31% in February—NBS

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday said the consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, eased by 0.06 percent in month of February.

A report released today by the stats office disclosed that the inflation rate stood at 11.31 percent (year-on-year) in February 2019 against 11.37 percent recorded in January 2019.

It was further disclosed that increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yielded the headline index, with the index dropping 0.01 percent month-on-month to 0.73 percent in February 2019 against 0.74 percent in January 2019.

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ending February 2019 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 11.56 percent, showing 0.24 percent point from 11.80 percent recorded in January 2019, the stats office said.

The NBS said the urban inflation rate increased by 11.59 percent (year-on-year) in February 2019 from 11.66 percent recorded in January 2019, while the rural inflation rate increased by 11.05 percent in February 2019 from 11.11 percent in January 2019.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 0.76 percent in February 2019, down by 0.01 from 0.77 percent recorded in January 2019, while the rural index also rose by 0.71 percent in February 2019, same rate as was recorded in January 2019 (0.71) percent.

The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 11.95 percent in February 2019. This is less than 12.20 percent reported in January 2019, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in February 2019 is 11.23 percent compared to 11.46 percent recorded in January 2019.

Also, the composite food index rose by 13.47 percent in February 2019 compared to 13.51 percent in January 2019.

This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of Fish, Bread and cereals, Potatoes, yam and other tubers, Meat, Vegetables, Oils and fats and Fruits.

On month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 0.82 percent in February 2019, down by 0.01 percent points from 0.83 percent recorded in January 2019.

The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending February 2019 over the previous twelve-month average was 13.62 percent, 0.31 percent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in January 2019 (13.93) percent.