BREAKING: Inflation Rises To 12.56%, Highest In 26 Months – NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics on Friday said the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation rose by 12.56 per cent year-on-year in June.

The bureau in the CPI report said the 12.56 per cent inflation for June is 0.16 percentage points higher than the 12.4 per cent recorded in the Month of May.

This is the highest inflation rate to be recorded by the economy in the last 26 months.

The last time the index was as high as this was in March 2018 when the inflation rate was put at 13.34 per cent.

The report showed that the composite food index rose to 15.18 per cent in June as against the 15.04 per cent recorded in May this year.

The increase in the food index rate was caused by the rice in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fruits, oils and fats, meat, fish and vegetables.

The NBS in its report said core inflation excluding the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 10.13 per cent in June 2 this year as against the 10.12 per cent recorded in May

It stated that the urban inflation rose by 13.18 per cent  in June from 13.03 per cent recorded in May, while the rural inflation rate increased by 11.99 per cent in June from 11.83 per cent in May.

The NBS noted that inflation was highest in Bauchi, Sokoto and Ebonyi at 15.02 per cent, 14.88 per cent and 14.60 per cent respectively.

On the other hand, it said Cross River had the lowest inflation rate at 10.95 percent, followed by Lagos with 10.78 per cent and Kwara with 10.03 per cent respectively.

For food inflation, it said it was highest in Sokoto, Plateau and Abuja at 17.88 per cent,17.04 per cent and 16.82 per cent respectively.

The NBS further noted that Lagos, Ogun and Bauchi witnessed the lowest rise in food inflation, at 13.46 per cent, 13.18 per cent and 12.86 per cent respectively.