The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported a significant rise in Nigeria’s inflation rate, reaching 33.2% for the month of March 2024. This marks a 1.5% increase from the 31.7% recorded in February 2024, although the rate of increase slowed compared to the previous month.
The surge in inflation for March was primarily driven by escalating costs in food and beverages, alongside energy and housing expenses. Year-on-year, the headline inflation rate spiked by 11.16% from 22.04% in March 2023. Furthermore, the headline inflation rate for March 2024 witnessed a slight decrease of 0.10% from February 2024, when it stood at 3.12%.
Food Inflation also witnessed a significant upsurge, reaching 40.01% year-on-year in March 2024, representing a notable increase from 24.45% in March 2023. This surge can be attributed to the rising prices of essential food items such as garri, millet, yam tubers, and others. However, on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate showed a slight decline, standing at 3.62% in March 2024.
Urban inflation soared to 35.18% year-on-year in March 2024, marking a substantial rise from 23.07% recorded in March 2023. Meanwhile, rural inflation stood at 31.45% year-on-year, indicating an increase of 10.37 percentage points from March 2023. Despite these increases, both urban and rural inflation rates experienced marginal decreases on a month-over-month basis.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural products and energy prices, surged to 25.90% year-on-year in March 2024, marking a significant increase from 19.63% in March 2023. The month-on-month core inflation rate also rose to 2.54% in March 2024 from 2.17% in February 2024.
The data provided by the NBS underscores the persistent inflationary pressures facing Nigeria’s economy, particularly in essential sectors such as food and housing. These challenges highlight the urgent need for robust economic policies to mitigate the impact of inflation on consumers and ensure sustainable economic growth.
