The National Bureau of Statistics, on Monday announced that Nigeria’s annual inflation rate has risen to 15.63 percent in December 2021. This was higher than the 15.40 percent recorded in November 2021 when the headline inflation moderated for eight consecutive months. The increase is likely due to the usual surge in the prices of goods and services around Christmas time.
The report stated, “This is showing a slowing down in the rate when compared to the corresponding period of 2020.
“Comparing the rate to the year-on-year performance in the previous months shows that the rate has increased.
“Also, comparing the rate of price change between December and November (month-on-month) shows that the headline index rose by 1.82 per cent in December 2021. The November figure was 1.08 per cent. The rise was in part driven by a continued surge in food inflation.”
According to NBS, the composite food index increased by 17.37 per cent in December 2021 down by 2.19 per cent points compared to the 19.56 per cent obtained in December 2020.
“The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the twelve months ending December 2021 over the previous twelve-month average was 20.40 per cent, 0.22 per cent points lower from the average annual rate of change recorded in November 2021 (20.62) per cent,” it said.
It further mentioned that the rise in the food index was as a result of increases in prices of bread and cereals, food products, meat, fish, potatoes, yam and other tubers, soft drinks and fruits.
The statistics showed that on a month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 2.19 per cent in December 2021, up by 1.12 per cent points from 1.07 per cent obtained in November 2021.