The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS has revealed the inflation rate of Nigeria rose for the 10th consecutive month to 21.47 percent in November 2022, the highest in 17 years, surpassing 21.09 percent in October.
Disclosing this in its Consumer Price Index, CPI report for November, the NBS noted that the inflation is driven by the festive seasons’ increase in demand for goods and services, in addition to the persistent naira depreciation and rise in cost of production.
With the November rate the annual (headline) inflation has risen by 5.87 percentage points in 10 months from 15.6 per cent in February. The development shows that Nigeria’s inflation rate has now risen to its highest level since September 2005 when the rate stood at 24.32%.
NBS stated: “In November 2022, on a year–on- year basis, the headline inflation rate was 21.47%. This was 6.07% points higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2021, which was 15.40%. This means that in the month of November 2022, the general price level was 6.07% higher relative to November 2021.
“On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in November 2022 was 1.39%, this was 0.15% 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% higher relative to October 2022.
On the likely factors responsible for the increase in the monthly inflation rate, NBS said: “The increase in the monthly inflation rate (Month-on-Month) can be attributed to the sharp increase in demand usually experienced during the festive season.”
The bureau attributed the increase in the annual inflation rate (Year-on-Year) to two factors namely, “increase in cost of importation due to the persistent currency depreciation; and General increase in the cost of production e.g increase in energy cost”.
