Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has decreased to 33.40% in July 2024, marking the first drop since December 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The rate decreased by 0.79 percentage points compared to June 2024, when it stood at 34.19%.
The NBS reported that the year-on-year inflation rate increased by 9.32 percentage points compared to July 2023, when it was 24.08%. However, on a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate decreased to 2.28% in July 2024, slightly lower than the 2.31% recorded in June 2024.
The food inflation rate also rose to 39.53% on a year-on-year basis, driven by increases in prices of food items such as semovita, yam flour, and groundnut oil. However, on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate decreased by 0.08% compared to June 2024.
The urban and rural inflation rates stood at 35.77% and 31.26%, respectively, on a year-on-year basis, while the corresponding twelve-month average rates were 32.89% and 28.86%, respectively.
This development indicates a slight easing of inflationary pressures in Nigeria, but the rate remains high, stressing the need for continued efforts to address the country’s economic challenges.
