The consumer price index, (CPI) which measures inflation increased by 17.01 percent (year-on-year) in August 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report released on Wednesday.
This is 0.37 percent points lower than the 17.38% rate recorded in July 2021. This decline marks the fifth consecutive months the NBS is report a decline in inflation rate since march 2021.
Inflation rate dropped from 18.17 percent in March to 18.12 percent in April, then to 17.93 percent, 17.75 percent and 17.38 percent in May, June and July respectively, according to NBS reports.
The NBS said that Increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the Headline index in August.
According to the report, On month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 1.02 percent in August 2021, this is 0.09 percent rate higher than the 0.93 percent recorded in July 2021.
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The NBS said that the composite food index rose by 20.30 percent in August 2021 compared to 21.03 percent in July 2021. It added that the rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, milk, cheese and egg, oils and fats, potatoes, yam and other tuber, food product n.e.c, meat and coffee, tea and cocoa.
The report said that the ”All items less farm produce” or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 13.41 percent in August 2021, down by 0.31 percent when compared with 13.72 percent recorded in July 2021.
In August 2021, all items inflation on year on year basis was highest in Kogi (23.40), Bauchi (21.56%) and Oyo (20.32%), while Bayelsa (15.04%), River (14.73%) and Kwara (14.64%) recorded the slowest rise in headline Year on Year inflation, according to the report.
Whereas food inflation on a year on year basis was highest in Kogi (28.76%), Oyo (23.69%) and Gombe (22.37%) in August 2021, while River (17.69%), Edo (17.26%) and Bauchi (17.24%) recorded the slowest rise in year on year food inflation, NBS said in the report.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.