The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released its latest report on Saturday, revealing a surge in Nigeria’s consumer price index (CPI) to 22.04 percent in March 2023, up from 21.91 percent the previous month.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that this marks the third consecutive increase in the country’s inflation rate this year.
The CPI measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, and the report also shows that the food index, which measures the changes in the price of agricultural items in the country, rose to 24.45% in March.
This is up from 24.35% recorded in the previous month, driven by increases in the prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, fruits, meat, vegetables, and spirits.
The report also indicates that the “all items less farm produce” or core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 19.86% in March 2023. This is despite easing to 18.84% in the previous month.
The highest increases in prices were recorded in gas, passenger transport by air, liquid fuel, fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment, vehicle spare parts, maintenance and repair of personal transport equipment, medical services, and passenger transport by road.
