Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has eased for the first time in 19 months, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The report, which covers the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation data for July 2024, shows that the inflation rate fell to 33.40% in July, marking a slight decrease of 0.8 percentage points from the 34.19% recorded in June.
This decline offers a glimmer of hope in an otherwise challenging economic environment, as it indicates a slowing in the rate of price increases across the country. The month-on-month inflation rate also showed a marginal decrease, standing at 2.28% in July, down from 2.31% in June. This suggests that while prices continued to rise, the pace of the increase was slightly slower than in the previous month.
However, a year-on-year comparison paints a more concerning picture. The July 2024 inflation rate was 9.32 percentage points higher than the 24.08% recorded in July 2023, reflecting the persistent pressure on prices over the past year. The NBS report attributes the continued year-on-year and month-on-month increases in the headline index to rising prices of various goods and services across different divisions of the economy.
The data comes amidst ongoing economic challenges, including supply chain disruptions, currency depreciation, and other factors that have contributed to the sustained rise in prices. While the slight easing of the inflation rate in July offers some relief, the overall inflationary pressures remain a significant concern for policymakers and the public alike.
As Nigeria grapples with these economic pressures, the government and relevant stakeholders will be closely monitoring the inflation trends in the coming months to assess the effectiveness of their interventions and strategies to stabilize the economy.
