Nigeria’s Inflation Escalates, Hits 16.47 Percent in January 2021

Prices of goods and services in Africa’s largest economy rose by the most in January, according to the latest data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the inflation rate, grew by 16.47 percent year on year in the month of January, representing an increase of 0.71 percent when compared to the 15.75 percent recorded in December 2020.

The NBS noted that increases were recorded across all COICOP divisions that yielded the Headline index.

On a monthly basis, inflation rose by 1.49 percent in January 2021, a 0.12 percent lower than the 1.61 percent posted in the preceding month.

However, Food Inflation escalated to 20.57 percent in January, up from 19.56 percent in December 2020.

The report attributed the increase to the rise in prices of Bread and cereals, Potatoes, Yam and other tubers, Meat, Fruits, Vegetable, Fish and Oils and Fats.

On a monthly basis, the food sub-index grew by 1.83 percent in January 2021, down by 0.22 percent points from 2.05 percent filed in the month of December 2020.

“The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending January 2021 over the previous twelve-month average was 16.66 percent, 0.49 percent points higher than the average annual rate of change recorded in December 2020 (16.17 percent),” NBS stated.

Weak macroeconomic indicators amid wide foreign exchange rates due to forex scarcity have continued to hurt Nigeria’s consumer prices, especially given the degree of dependence on import goods.

Nigeria’s Naira plunged against the United States Dollar to N480 on the parallel market and N652 against the British Pound while trading at N570 to a Euro. The wide exchange rates made foreign currencies inaccessible for importers and businesses looking to import raw materials for production.

The decline in the value of Naira against its global counterparts despite efforts by both the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on economic productivity continues as economic uncertainties amid low fiscal buffer surged.