Nigeria’s inflation rate drops to 18.12%

Nigeria’s rate of inflation dropped to 18.12 percent in April 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

It was 18.17 percent in March, shedding 0.05 percent to close at 18.12 in April.

The NBS said: “The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation increased by 18.12 percent (year-on-year) in April 2021.

“This is 0.05 percent points lower than the rate recorded in March 2021 (18.17 percent).”

The 0.05 percent drop in April 2021 was the first time Nigeria’s inflation rate would fall in about 20 months as the last time it fell was in 2019 when the CPI shed 0.06 percent, falling from 11.08 percent in July to 11.02 in August.

In its April 2021 inflation report, the NBS stated increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose divisions that yielded the headline index.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.97 percent in April 2021, this was 0.59 percent cent rate lower than the rate recorded in March 2021 (1.56 percent).

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ending April 2021 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 15.04 percent, showing a 0.48 percent point from 14.55 percent recorded in March 2021.

The urban inflation rate increased by 18.68 percent year-on-year in April 2021 from 18.76 percent recorded in March 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased by 17.57 percent in April 2021 from 17.60 percent in March 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 0.99 percent in April 2021, down by 0.61 the rate recorded in March 2021 (1.60 percent).

The rural index also rose by 0.95 percent in April 2021, down by 0.57 the rate that was recorded in March 2021(1.52 percent).

The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index was 15.63 percent in April 2021.

This was higher than 15.15 percent reported in March 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in April 2021 was 14.48 percent compared to 13.99 percent recorded in March 2021.