The Consumer Price Index (CPI), escalated to 28.92% in December 2023, marking an increase from the preceding month’s 28.20%.
This escalation compounds the existing cost-of-living challenges and intensifies the pressure on the central bank to consider raising interest rates. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, consumer inflation recorded its 12th consecutive monthly increase, reaching 28.92% year on year, up from November’s 28.20%.
This level of inflation has not been witnessed in Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation since mid-1996. Notably, the food inflation rate, representing a significant portion of Nigeria’s inflation basket, climbed to 33.93% in December compared to 32.84% the previous month.
The surge in prices affected various food items, including bread, cereals, oil, fish, meat, fruit, and eggs. Analysts attribute the heightened price pressures to increased fuel prices and the depreciation of the naira currency. David Omojomolo, an Africa economist at Capital Economics, anticipates that inflationary pressures will likely continue to escalate, pointing to the removal of a fuel subsidy last year and the weakening of the naira as contributing factors.