Tinubu: More Hardship For Nigerians As Food Inflation Rises To 39.16%

More woes for Nigerians as food inflation increased to 39.16 percent in October 2024 from 37.77 percent in September, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ latest consumer price index and inflation data released on Friday.

The report showed that the country’s inflation rose by 7.64 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2023 (31.52 percent).

NBS said the rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of the following items: Guinea Corn, Rice, Maize Grains, Rice, etc. (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Water Yam, Coco Yam, etc. (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Palm Oil, Vegetable Oil, etc. (Oil and Fats Class), and Milo Lipton, Bourvita, etc. (Coffee, Tea, & Cocoa Class).

In another level of analysis, the data indicate that on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in October 2024 was 2.94 percent, which shows a 0.30 percent increase compared to the rate recorded in September 2024 (2.64 percent).

Accordingly, the rise on a month-on-month basis can be attributed to the rate of increase in the average prices of palm oil, vegetable oil, etc. (Oil & Fats Class), mudfish, croaker (Apo), fresh fish (Obokun), etc. (Fish Class), dried beef, goat meat, mutton, skin meat, etc. (Meat Class), and bread, Guinea corn flour, plantains flour, rice, etc. (Bread and Cereals Class).

“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending October 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 38.12 percent, which was an 11.79 percent increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in October 2023 (26.33 percent),” the NBS report stated.

This comes as Nigeria’s headline inflation increased to 33.88 percent in October 2024.