By Modupe Gbadeyanka
In October 2021, the inflation rate in Nigeria moderated to 15.99 per cent year-on-year, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday disclosed.
According to the stats office, the inflation for last month was lower than the 16.63 per cent recorded in September 2021 but higher than the 14.23 per cent achieved in October 2020.
Business Post reports that it is the seventh consecutive month the inflation is coming down, The first decline was reported in April when it slipped to 18.12 per cent from 18.17 per cent.
In May, it dropped to 17.93 per cent and moved to 17.75 per cent a month later and then to 17.38 per cent in July before easing to 17.01 per cent in August and to 16.63 per cent in September and then to 15.99 per cent last month.
The NBS said food inflation, however, rose by 18.34 per cent in October 2021 compared with 17.38 per cent a year ago, attributing the increase to hike in prices of food products like coffee, tea and cocoa, milk, cheese and eggs, bread and cereals, vegetables and potatoes, yam and other tubers.
On a month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 0.91 per cent in October 2021, down by 0.35 per cent points from 1.26 per cent recorded in September 2021.
In the report, it was stated that the average annual rate of change of the food sub-index for the 12-month period ending October 2021 over the previous 12-month average was 20.75 per cent, 0.04 per cent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in September 2021 at 20.71 per cent.
It was further disclosed urban inflation rate increased by 16.52 per cent (year-on-year) in October 2021 from 14.81 per cent in October 2020, while the rural inflation rate increased by 15.48 per cent in October 2021 from 13.68 per cent in the corresponding month of last year.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.02 per cent in October 2021, down by 0.19 percentage point the rate recorded in September 2021 at 1.21 per cent, while the rural index also rose by 0.95 per cent last month, down by 0.15 percentage point the rate that was recorded a month earlier at 1.10 per cent.
The 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index was 17.53 per cent in October 2021, higher than the 17.41 per cent reported in September 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in October 2021 was 16.39 per cent compared with 16.26 per cent recorded in September 2021.
Adedapo Adesanya