Inflation hit 15.92% in March – NBS

Inflation in Nigeria hit 15.92 per cent in March 2022, a 0.22 per cent rise compared to 15.7 per cent recorded in February 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS also said the composite food index rose year-on-year (YoY) by 0.09 per cent to 17.20 per cent in the month under review from 17.11 per cent in February.

In its Consumer Price index (CPI) released yesterday, the bureau said the rise in food index was due to increase in prices of bread and cereals, tubers, fish, meat, oils and fats.

NBS said: “In March 2022, the CPI, which measures inflation, increased to 15.92 per cent on YoY basis. This is 2.25 per cent lower than the 18.17 per cent recorded in March 2021. This means that the headline inflation rate slowed down in March 2022 when compared to the same month in the previous year.

“Increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yielded the headline index. On month-on-month (MoM) basis, the headline index increased to 1.74 per cent in March 2022. This is 0.11 per cent points higher than the 1.63 per cent recorded in February 2022.”

The urban inflation rate, the bureau noted, increased to 16.44 per cent YoY in March 2022, showing a decline of 2.32 per cent from the 18.76 per cent recorded in March 2021.

It added: “In the same vein, rural inflation increased to 15.42 per cent in March 2022 with a decrease of 2.18 per cent from the 17.6 per cent recorded in March 2021.

“On a MoM basis, the urban index rose to 1.76 per cent in March 2022, 0.11 per cent from the 1.65 per cent recorded in February. The rural index rose to 1.73 per cent in March 2022, with 0.12 per cent increase from 1.61 per cent of February 2022.”