Inflation slows to 15.99% for seventh consecutive time in October

For the 7th time running, the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, declined for the seventh consecutive time to 15.99 per cent in October 2021.

The figure is 1.76 per cent points higher than the 14.23 per cent recorded in October 2020.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced this in its monthly CPI report released on Monday.

According to the bureau, increases were recorded in all classifications of individual consumption according to purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index

“On month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 0.98 percent in October 2021, this is 0.17 percent rate lower than the rate recorded in September 2021 (1.15) percent,” the report reads.

“The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending October 2021 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 16.96 per cent, showing 0.13 per cent point from 16.83 per cent recorded in September 2021.”

Since March 2021, Nigeria’s inflation rate has been declining monthly as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) projected it may drop to 13 per cent this year and a single-digit rate by 2022.

According to the CPI report, on a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.02 per cent in October 2021, down by 0.19 percentage point of the rate (1.21 percent) recorded in September 2021.

The rural index also rose by 0.95 per cent in October 2021, down by 0.15 percentage points from the rate (1.10%) recorded in September 2021.

The report pegged the 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index to be 17.53 per cent in October 2021. This is higher than 17.41 per cent reported in September 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in October 2021 is 16.39 per cent compared to 16.26 per cent recorded in September 2021.

According to the report, the composite food index rose by 18.34 per cent in October 2021 compared to 17.38 per cent in October

2020.

NBS said the rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of food products, such as 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 percent in October 2021, down by 0.35 percentage points from 1.26 percent recorded in September 2021.