Inflation Increases Further In May

Inflation rose to 11.40 percent (year-on-year) in May from 11.37 percent recorded in April 2019, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has said.

Data released by the statistics office on Monday, showed that the Consumer Price Index, CPI, which measures inflation, increased by 0.03 percentage points in may, with the rise affecting all headline index.

The statistics indicate that the fastest pace of growth in the headline index was driven by domestic and household services.

It said: “the faster pace of growth in headline inflation, year -on- year, was recorded in prices of Domestic and household services, Tobacco, Actual and imputed rentals for housing, Medical, Dental and Hospital services.

“Also, Cleaning, repair and hire of clothing, repair and hire of footwear and Repair of household appliance.

“The average 12-month annual rate of change of the index was 9.77 percent for the twelve-month period ending May 2019; this is 0.14 percent points lower than 9.91 percent recorded in April 2019.”

According to the report, all items inflation on year on year basis was highest in Kebbi (15.76%), Bauchi (14.97%) and Kaduna (13.74%), while Abia (9.91%), Cross River (9.68%) and Kwara (8.45%) recorded the slowest rise in headline Year on Year inflation in May.