By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE) – Nigeria’s inflation rose 8.2 percent (year-on-year), 0.2 percentages from 8.0 percent recorded in December. “All major Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (CIOCOP) divisions that contribute to the index increased during the period,” the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.
The Nigeria’s statistics office reported that food prices measured by the Food Sub-index held at roughly the same pace of increase in January as in December, while on the aggregate, upward pressure on the Headline index was largely as a result of increasing divisions that contribute to the Core Sub-index.
According to the report, food prices increased at the same pace in January as recorded in December; at 9.2 percent. “Most groups that contribute to the Food sub-index increased at a faster pace during the month. This was countered however by slower rises in the Fish, Fruit, “Coffee, Tea and Cocoa”; and Soft Drinks groups,” the NBS report added.
The report says after a brief respite in December, the pace of advances recorded by the “All Items less Farm Produce” or Core sub-index picked up in January.
NBS says the Core Sub-index increased by 6.8 percent year-on-year, 0.6 percentage points from 6.2 percent recorded in December. “Prices increased at a faster pace in most major non-food divisions such as “Housing Water, Electricity,” the report affirmed.
The nation’s bureau of statistics further affirmed that in January, the Headline index rose at a marginally slower pace relative to December. “Prices rose by 0.81 percent (month-on-month) in January, lower from 0.82 percent recorded in December,” it reported.
According to NBS, the pace of price increases picked up across half all COICOP divisions and slowed in about half of the other divisions, thus weighing on the overall month-on-month increase. Year-on-year, the Urban index increased by 0.3 percentage points to 8.2 percent in January, while rural prices as recorded by the Rural All Items index increased marginally from 8.0 percent in December to 8.1 in January.
It reported on a month-on-month basis, both the Urban and Rural indices recorded the same pace of increase in January; 0.8 percent. “Price increases have held at the same rate for two consecutive months,” the report added.
NBS says the percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve-month period ending in January over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was recorded at 8.1 percent, marginally higher from 8.0 percent recorded in December.
“The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index was unchanged at 8.2 percent in January, while the corresponding Rural index was also unchanged in January, increasing by 7.9percent,” the report noted.
Similarly, food prices as measured by the Food sub-index climbed up by 9.2 percent in January, “roughly unchanged from price increases recorded in December,” the NBS reported.
It further affirmed that price increases are also marginally higher from the 12 month low recorded in November of 2014 at 9.1 percent.
“On a month-on-month basis, food prices increased by 0.9 percent in January, increasing at the same pace for the second consecutive month. Price increases slowed for all groups yielding the Food sub-index except for Vegetables,” the NBS said.
NBS says on a month-on-month basis, the highest price increases were recorded in the Vegetables, Meat, “Potatoes, Yams and Other Tubers”; and “Bread and Cereal” groups. “The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending in January 2015 over the previous twelve month average was 9.5 percent. The twelve month rate of change has held steady for eight consecutive months,” the report added.
