Photo: NBS
The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS has released the Nigeria’s inflation figure for the month of March 2023.
In the Consumer Price Index report released on Saturday, Inflation rose to 22.04 percent in March, representing 13.4 basis points compared to 21.91 percent in the previous month.
According to the report, the latest figure indicates a third consecutive increase in food prices this year.
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.13% points higher compared to March 2022 which was 15.92%.
It noted that the major contributors to the increase include food and non-alcoholic beverages (11.42%); housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel (3.69%).
Urban Inflation
On a year-on-year basis, in March 2023, the urban inflation rate was 23.07%, this was 6.63% points higher compared to the 16.44% recorded in March 2022.
While on a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.00% in the month under review. This was 0.15% points higher compared to the 1.85% recorded in February 2023.
Rural Inflation
In the NBS latest report, the rural inflation rate in March 2023 was 21.09% on a year-on-year basis; this went up by 5.67% compared to the 15.42% recorded in March 2022.
On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in March 2023 was 1.72%, up by 0.14 basis points compared to February 2023 (1.58%).
Food Inflation
The food inflation rose to 24.45% on a year-on-year basis in March; which was 7.25% points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2022 (17.20%).
According to the report, the increase was driven by increases in prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, fruits, meat, vegetables, and spirits.
On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in March 2023 was 2.07%, this was 0.16% higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023 (1.90%).
By states, food inflation in the month under review on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kwara (28.84%), Ondo (28.22%), and Lagos (27.92%), while Sokoto (18.99%), Zamfara (20.57%) and Plateau (21.38%) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation.
On a month-on-month basis, March 2023 food inflation was highest in Bayelsa (3.11%), Rivers (3.00%), and Ondo (2.98%), while Bauchi (1.03%), Zamfara (1.08%) and Ogun (1.13%) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a month-on-month basis.
Writing by Annabel Nwachukwu