In a notable development, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate decreased to 33.40% in July 2024, down from 34.19% in June 2024. This decline represents the first reduction in the headline inflation rate since December 2022, when it last decreased to 21.34%.
The latest figures, derived from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for July 2024, show a drop of 0.79 percentage points in the headline inflation rate compared to the previous month.
On a year-on-year basis, the July 2024 inflation rate was 9.32 percentage points higher than the 24.08% recorded in July 2023, reflecting a substantial increase over the past year. The month-on-month headline inflation rate was recorded at 2.28% for July 2024, slightly lower than the 2.31% recorded in June 2024.
Sectoral Contributions
Food and non-alcoholic beverages were major contributors to the year-on-year inflation rate, accounting for 17.30%, followed by housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 5.59%.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural products and energy prices, reached 27.47% year-on-year in July 2024. This marks an increase of 6.99 percentage points from the 20.47% recorded in July 2023. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation rose to 2.16% in July 2024, up from 2.06% in June 2024. The twelve-month average core inflation rate was 24.65%, up by 5.81 percentage points from the 18.84% recorded in July 2023.
Food Inflation Trends
The food inflation rate stood at 39.53% year-on-year in July 2024, a significant increase of 12.55 percentage points from the 26.98% recorded in July 2023. This rise was driven by higher prices for staple items such as semovita, yam flour, and wheat flour. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation decreased to 2.47% in July 2024, a slight reduction from the 2.55% recorded in June 2024, reflecting slower price increases in various food categories.
Urban and Rural Inflation
Urban inflation saw a year-on-year rate of 35.77% in July 2024, a 9.94 percentage point increase from the 25.83% recorded in July 2023. The month-on-month urban inflation rate remained stable at 2.46%, slightly lower than the 2.46% recorded in June 2024. The twelve-month average urban inflation rate was 32.89%, up by 10.02 percentage points from the 22.87% reported in July 2023.
Rural inflation was recorded at 31.26% year-on-year in July 2024, an 8.77 percentage point increase from the 22.49% recorded in July 2023. On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate decreased to 2.10% in July 2024, down from 2.17% in June 2024. The twelve-month average rural inflation rate for July 2024 was 28.86%, a rise of 7.82 percentage points from the 21.04% reported in July 2023.
