By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 11.98 percent in December 2019, for the fourth consecutive month. The latest figure is 0.13 percent points higher than the 11.85 percent rate recorded in November 2019.
The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its consumer price index (CPI) report for December 2019 released on Friday, January 17, 2019, stated that increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.
“On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.85 percent in December 2019, this is 0.17 percent rate lower than 1.02 percent recorded in November 2019.
“The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve-month ending December 2019 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 11.40 percent, showing 0.05 percent point from 11.35 percent recorded in November 2019,” the report said.
Food prices continued to rise as a result of the border closure that has been in place since August 2019. According to the report, food inflation rose by 14.67 percent in December 2019 compared with 14.48 percent in November 2019. This was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, meat, fish, oils and fats, potatoes, yam and other tubers.
Also, core inflation increased to 9.33 percent in December 2019, up by 0.34 percent when compared with 8.99 percent recorded in November 2019, while the urban inflation rate increased by 12.62 percent (year-on-year) in December 2019 from 12.47 percent recorded in November 2019, with rural inflation rate increased by 11.41 percent in December 2019 from 11.30 percent in November 2019.
Dipo Olowookere