The Commodity Price Index (CPI) report published on Monday, May 15, 2023 by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that Nigeria’s inflation rate increased for the fourth consecutive month to 22.22 per cent in April. The rate was 22.04 per cent in March.
The April 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.18 percentage points when compared to March 2023 headline inflation rate.
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.40 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in April 2022, which was 16.82 per cent.
This shows that the headline inflation rate on a year-on-year basis increased in April 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., April 2022).
Likewise, on a month-on-month basis, the All-Items Index in April 2023 was 1.91%, which was 0.05% points higher than the rate recorded in March 2023 (1.86%). This means that in April 2023, on average, the general price level was 0.05% higher relative to March 2023.
The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending April 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months was 20.82%, showing a 4.37% increase compared to the 16.45% recorded in April 2022.
On a year-on-year basis, in April 2023, the urban inflation rate was 23.39%, this was 6.05% points higher compared to the 17.35% recorded in April 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.05% in April 2023, this was 0.05% points higher compared to March 2023 (2.00%). The corresponding twelve months average for the urban inflation rate was 21.50% in April 2023. This was 4.49% points higher compared to the 17.01% reported in April 2022.
The rural inflation rate in April 2023 was 21.14% on a year-on-year basis; this was 4.82% points higher compared to the 16.32% recorded in April 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in April 2023 was 1.78%, up slightly by 0.06% points compared to March 2023 (1.72%). The corresponding twelve months average for the rural inflation rate in April 2023 was 20.18%. This was 4.27% points higher compared to the 15.91% recorded in April 2022.
The food inflation rate in April 2023 was 24.61% on a year-on-year basis, which was 6.24% points higher compared to the rate recorded in April 2022 (18.37%). The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of Oil and fat, Bread and cereals, Fish, Potatoes, Yam and other tubers, Fruits, Meat, Vegetable, and Spirits.
On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in April 2023 was 2.13%, this was 0.06% points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2023 (2.07%). The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending April 2023 over the previous twelve months average was 23.22%, which was 4.35% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in April 2022 (18.88%).
