Nigeria’s inflation rate surged to 22.79% in June 2023, marking a 0.38% points increase from the previous month’s 22.41%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ consumer price index report. This represents a 4.19% points rise compared to the inflation rate recorded in June 2022.
The significant uptick in inflation was primarily driven by the food index, with food inflation reaching 25.25% in June 2023, up from 24.82% in May 2023. The increase in food inflation was influenced by higher prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, yam, fruits, meat, vegetables, milk, cheese, and eggs.
Core inflation also rose to 20.27% in June 2023, compared to 20.06% in the prior month. The increase in core inflation can be attributed to the federal government’s announcement of petrol subsidy removal, resulting in the petrol price soaring from an average of N185/ltr to N500 per litre.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation slightly decreased to 1.74% in June 2023, down by 0.07% from May 2023’s rate. The highest price increases were observed in passenger transport by air, gas, vehicle spare parts, liquid fuel, fuels, lubricants for personal transport equipment, medical services, and passenger transport by road.
The rising inflation rate poses challenges to Nigeria’s economy and highlights the need for measures to curb inflationary pressures and stabilize the cost of living for its citizens.
