Nigeria’s food inflation rate in October has risen to 23.72 per cent, just as the headline inflation figure rose to 21.09 per cent, a new 17-year high.
The National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS) said food inflation was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, food products like potatoes, yams and other tubers, oil and fat.
The food inflation of 23 per cent is 5.39 per cent higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2021 (18.34%), a report by the NBS disclosed.
On a month-on-month basis, it said the food inflation rate in October was 1.23 per cent, this was a 0.21 per cent decline compared to the rate recorded in September 2022 (1.43%).
It stated that the decline was due to the reduction in prices of some food items like tubers, palm oil, maize, beans, and vegetables.
Meanwhile, it said the headline inflation on a month-on-month basis was 1.2 per cent, which is 0.11 per cent lower than the rate recorded in September 2022 (1.36%).
NBS said there has been a decline in headline inflation in three months due to harvest season but the latest increase was due to disruption in food produce supply, importation cost hike resulting from currency depreciation and rise in production cost.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmad, on Monday said the soaring food inflation in the country has outshined the seventh quarterly growth in the economy.
