Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 32.70% in September 2024, following two consecutive months of decline in July and August, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report from the National Bureau of Statistics. This marks a 0.55% increase from August’s figure of 32.15%, signaling persistent price pressures across the country.

Year-on-year, inflation surged by 5.98 percentage points compared to the 26.72% recorded in September 2023. The report stated, “In September 2024, the Headline inflation rate was 32.70% relative to the August 2024 headline inflation rate of 32.15%. Looking at the movement, the September 2024 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.55% compared to the August 2024 Headline inflation rate.”

The report further highlighted, “On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 5.98% points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2023 (26.72%). This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in September 2024 when compared to the year-on-year in the preceding year (i.e., September 2023).”

It also noted, “On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.52%, which was 0.30% higher than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.22%). This means that in September 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2024.”

Food prices continue to be a major contributor to inflation, with food inflation rising to 37.77% in September 2024, a significant jump from the 30.64% recorded in the same period in 2023. The surge in food inflation is mainly driven by increasing prices of staples such as rice, maize, beans, and yams. On a month-to-month basis, food inflation also rose to 2.64% in September, up from 2.37% in August.