Nigeria’s inflation rate drops

By Rasaq Adebayo

Nigeria’s inflation rate has dropped from 18.17 per cent to 18.12 per cent, indicating the first decline in headline inflation in about 20 months.

This was issued in the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, on Monday.

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

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

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

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

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

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 per cent, showing 0.48 per cent point from 14.55 per cent recorded in March 2021.