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According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria's headline consumer price index (CPI) recorded its eleventh consecutive deceleration in 2017. Headline inflation was 15.37 percent year-on-year (y/y) in December. The December inflation moderated from 15.90 percent last November.

On month-on-month (m/m) basis, the headline index increased by 0.59 percent, 0.19 percent points higher from the rate of 0.78 percent recorded in November.

In December, food inflation rose by 19.42 percent (y/y), below the 20.30 percent recorded in the previous month.

The highest increase was recorded in the prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, oils and fats, coffee, tea and cocoa, milk, cheese and eggs, and fish. On m/m basis, food inflation increased at a notably slower pace of 0.58 percent, compared to the 0.88 percent recorded in the previous month.

Core inflation increased at a slower pace in December by 12.10 percent, compared with 12.20 percent in November. The highest increases were reported in the prices of solid and liquid fuel, passenger transport by air, non-durable goods, vehicle spare parts, furniture and furnishing, clothing materials and other articles of clothing, fuel and lubricants for personal transport equipment, and hospital and medical services. On a m/m basis, the core index increased by 0.51 percent, 27 basis points below the 0.78 percent reported the previous month.

According to the NBS, the percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve-month period ending in December 2017 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 16.50 percent. The urban inflation rate rose by 15.78 percent (y/y) in December from 16.27 percent recorded in November, while the rural inflation rate also eased by 15.02 percent in December from 15.59 percent in November. On month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 0.66 percent in December, down by 0.19 from 0.85 percent recorded in November, while the rural index rose by 0.54 percent in December, down by 0.18 when compared with 0.72 percent in November.