16th December, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Nigeria’s inflation rate surged to 34.60% in November 2024, reflecting a continued rise in the cost of goods and services, according to a report released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The latest data shows an increase from the October inflation rate of 33.88%, representing a 0.72 percentage point rise.
“Looking at the movement, the November 2024 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.72% points compared to the October 2024 Headline inflation rate,” the NBS stated.
According to the report, on a year-on-year basis, the November inflation figure was 6.40 percentage points higher than the 28.20% recorded in November 2023, underscoring a significant escalation over the past year.
“This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in November 2024 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., November 2023),” the report noted.
However, on a month-on-month basis, inflation in November 2024 slightly eased to 2.638%, marginally lower than the 2.640% recorded in October. This suggests a deceleration in the pace of price increases.
The report also highlighted a 32.77% average Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the twelve months ending November 2024, marking an 8.76 percentage point rise from the 24.01% recorded during the same period in 2023.
Breaking down the figures, the NBS revealed that urban inflation rose significantly, hitting 37.10% in November 2024 on a year-on-year basis.
This marked a 6.88 percentage point increase compared to 30.21% in November 2023. Month-on-month, urban swelling climbed to 2.77%, slightly higher than October’s 2.75%.
The twelve-month average for urban inflation stood at 35.07%, 9.62 percentage points higher than the 25.45% recorded in November 2023.
Rural inflation also witnessed a notable rise, with a year-on-year rate of 32.27% in November 2024, up by 5.84 percentage points from 26.43% in November 2023.
Month-on-month, rural swelling eased slightly to 2.51% compared to 2.53% in October. The twelve-month average rural inflation rate rose to 30.71%, reflecting an 8.00 percentage point increase from 22.71% in November 2023.
The rising inflation rate continues to burden Nigerian households and businesses, with essential commodities and services becoming increasingly unaffordable.
Analysts have pointed to a combination of supply chain disruptions, depreciation of the naira, and high production costs as driving factors.