BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
Nigeria’s inflation got worse in November with the price level increasing by 6.07 percentage points year on year to 21.47 percent.
In November 2021, the figure stood at 15.40 percent.
The figure was driven largely by higher cost energy, rising cost of production due to currency depreciation and the rush to spend during the yuletide season.
Data published by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed that inflation increased by 1.39 percent on a month-on-month basis, 0.15 percent higher than the rate recorded in October 2022 (1.24%).
This means that in the month of November 2022, the general price level was 0.15 percent higher relative to October 2022.
The percentage change in the average CPI for the 12 months period ending November 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 18.37 percent, showing a 1.39 percent increase compared to 16.98 percent recorded in November 2021.
The statistics bureau hinted that the month on month increase in price of commodities can be attributed to the sharp increase in demand usually experienced during the festive season.
Increase in cost of importation due to the persistent currency depreciation and general increase in the cost of production fueled mainly by increase in energy cost were major factors responsible for year on year increase in inflation according to NBS.
Both the urban and rural inflation recorded a rise in the review period with the former recording a sharper increase.
On a year-on-year basis, in the month of November 2022, the urban inflation rate was 22.09 percent, this was 6.17 percent higher compared to the 15.92 percent recorded in November 2021.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.50 percent in November 2022; this was 0.16 percent higher compared to October 2022 (1.33%).
The corresponding twelve-month average for the urban inflation rate was 18.90 percent in November 2022. This was 1.35 percent higher compared to the 17.55 percent reported in November 2021.
On the flipside, the rural inflation rate in November 2022 was 20.88 percent on a year-on-year basis; this was 5.99 percent higher compared to 14.89 percent recorded in November 2021. On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in November 2022 was 1.30 percent, up by 0.14 percent compared to October 2022 (1.16%).
The corresponding twelve-month average for the rural inflation rate in November 2022 was 17.88 percent. This was 1.46 percent higher compared to the 16.42 percent recorded in November 2021.
The food inflation rate in November 2022 was 24.13 percent on a year-on-year basis; which was 6.92 percent higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2021 (17.21%). The rise in food inflation was caused by increases in prices of Bread and cereals, Oil and fat, Potatoes, Yam and other tubers, Food products and Fish. On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in November was 1.40%, this was 0.17 percent higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2022 (1.23%).
This increase was attributed to an increase in prices of some food items like Oil and fat, Fruits, Fish, and Tubers The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve-month period ending November 2022 over the previous twelve-month average was 20.41 percent, which was 0.21 percent points lower from the average annual rate of change recorded in November 2021 (20.62%).
