Nigeria’s inflation soars to 21.82% amid currency scarcity

Nigeria’s composite price index (CPI), which measures inflation soared to 21.82 per cent in January 2023.

This is according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This comes amid naira scarcity occasioned by the currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

January’s inflation rate is a 0.48 per cent point increase from the 21.34 per cent that was recorded in December 2022.

This is a new 17-year high after inflation fell for the first time in December 2022. Prior to December, Nigeria’s inflation rate had been rising consistently for 11 months.

“In January 2023, the headline inflation rate rose to 21.82 per cent compared to December 2022 headline inflation rate which was 21.34 per cent,” the NBS said in its ‘Consumer Price Index’ for January 2023.

“Looking at the trend, the January 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.47 per cent points when compared to December 2022 inflation rate. However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.22 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2022, which was 15.60 per cent.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in the month of January 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., January 2022).”

According to the NBS, increases in the prices of bread and cereal, actual and imputed rent, potatoes, yam and tuber, vegetables, and meat.