Nigeria’s headline inflation rate decreased to 33.40% in July 2024, down from 34.19% in June, marking the first decline since December 2022.
This 0.79 percentage point drop indicates a slight easing of inflationary pressures, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). However, on a year-on-year basis, the inflation rate is still 9.32 percentage points higher than the 24.08% recorded in July 2023.
Despite the monthly decline, inflation remains significantly elevated compared to the previous year. The month-on-month inflation rate for July was 2.28%, slightly lower than the 2.31% recorded in June.
The persistently high inflation rates, particularly in food prices, continue to pose challenges for the Nigerian economy, exacerbated by factors such as currency depreciation and rising costs of essential goods.