Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation rate, rose by 12.34 percent year-on-year in April from the 12.26 percent recorded in March.
The CPI released on Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the latest inflation rate is 0.08 percent points higher than the rate recorded in March 2020.
The report indicated that increases were recorded in all divisions that yielded the Headline index.
On month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 1.02 percent in April 2020, representing 0.18 percent rate higher than the 0.84 percent rate recorded in the preceding month.
The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending April 2020 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 11.71 percent, showing 0.09 percent point rise from 11.62 percent recorded in March 2020.
Urban inflation rate increased by 13.01 percent in the month under review from 12.93 percent recorded in March. Similarly, the rural inflation rate increased by 11.73 percent in April, up from 11.64 percent in March.
The official statistics producing and reporting agency further reported that the composite food index rose by 15.03 percent in April 2020 compared to 14.98 percent in March 2020.
It stated: “This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of Potatoes, Yam and other tubers, Bread and cereals, Fish, Oils and fats, Meat, Fruits and Vegetables.”
On month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 1.18 percent in April, up by 0.24 percent points from 0.94 percent recorded in March. The average annual rate of change of the
Food sub-index for the 12-month period ended April over the previous 12-month average was 14.22 percent, 0.11 percent points higher than the average annual rate of change recorded in March 2020 (14.11) percent.
Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 9.98 percent in April, up by 0.25 percent when compared with 9.73 percent recorded in March.
On month-on-month basis, the core sub-index increased by 0.93 percent in the month under review. This was up by 0.13 percent when compared with 0.80 percent recorded in March.
“The highest increases were recorded in prices of Bicycles, Passenger transport by road, Passenger transport by sea and inland waterways, Paramedical services, Hospital services, pharmaceutical products, Medical services, Motorcycles and Major household appliances whether electric or not,” NBS said.
The average 12-month annual rate of change of the index was 9.17 percent for the twelve-month period ending April, representing 0.06 percent points higher than 9.11 percent recorded in the preceding month.