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The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported today that Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 11.98 per cent year-on-year in December 2019. This represents a 0.13 percentage point increase compared to 11.85 per cent recorded in November.

According to CardinalStone Partners, an investment advisory firm, headline inflation advanced as the effects of the Nigerian border closures continue to weigh on food prices. The inflation rate had been on a steady decline for three consecutive months between June and August before the border closures took effect on 20 August, 2019.

The rise in the CPI, which measures inflation, in December was the fourth consecutive monthly increase. On month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.85 per cent in December or 0.17 percentage point lower than the rate recorded in November 2019 (1.02 per cent). The NBS said all major indices increased in December 2019.

Food inflation, according to the NBS, rose to 14.67 per cent last month, compared to 14.48 per cent reported in the previous month. This rise in the food inflation was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, meat, fish, oils and fats, potatoes, yam and other tubers.

In the review period, urban inflation stood at 12.62 per cent, rising from 12.47 per cent recorded in November, while the rural inflation rate rose from 11.30 per cent in November to 11.41 per cent last month.

Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 9.33 per cent in December, up by 0.34 percentage point when compared with 8.99 per cent recorded in November.