The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the December 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Monday, revealing a notable increase in inflation rates. The CPI, which gauges the rate of change in the prices of goods and services, showed a headline inflation rate of 28.92%, marking a 0.72% point surge from the November 2023 inflation rate of 28.20%.
On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate for December 2023 reached 2.29%, reflecting a 0.20% increase from the 2.09% recorded in November 2023. This indicates that the rate of average price level increase in December outpaced that of November.
The report also highlighted a rise in food inflation during the same period, reaching 33.93% on a year-on-year basis. This figure marked a substantial 10.18% point increase compared to the rate recorded in December 2022, which stood at 23.75%.
The surge in food inflation comes six months after President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food security. At that time, he emphasized the need for urgent collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources to ensure proper irrigation of farmlands and year-round food production. President Tinubu also outlined plans to establish a National Commodity Board to assess food prices continually and maintain a strategic food reserve for stabilizing prices of critical grains and other food items.
The latest inflation data raises concerns about the effectiveness of measures taken to address food security, prompting a renewed call for coordinated efforts to mitigate the impact of rising inflation rates on the cost of living for Nigerians.
