Despite fall in inflation, food prices remained high in December – NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday said the prices of some food items in Nigeria increased in December.

Headline inflation (all goods and services) reached its lowest rate in eleven months in December, after ten straight monthly increases. Food inflation also slowed but remains high nonetheless.

In December 2022, the headline inflation rate eased to 21.34 per cent compared to November 2022 headline inflation rate which was 21.47 per cent. In terms of trend, December 2022 inflation rate showed a decline of 0.13 per cent when compared to November 2022 inflation rate, NBS said in its inflation report.

Inflation indicators compare prices of goods and services in 12 months. A decline does not necessarily imply a reduction in prices; instead, it shows the rate of price increase had fallen compared to previous months.

Food Prices

In its ‘Selected Food Price Watch’ data for December 2022, published on Friday, the bureau said the average price of 1kg beef boneless increased year-on-year by 28.75 per cent from the value recorded in December 2021 (N1,846.39), and 1.70 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N2,337.46 in November 2022.

It said the average price of 1kg rice (locally sold loose) increased on a year-on-year basis by 19.21 per cent from N424.62 in December 2021 to N506.17 in December 2022.

“On a month-on-month basis, the average price of this item increased by 1.07 per cent in December 2022,” the statistics office added.

The average price of 1kg of Tomato on a year-on-year basis rose by 28.40 per cent from N357.03 in December 2021 to N458.42 in December 2022. Also, on a month-on-month basis, it increased to 0.72 per cent from N455.13 in November 2022.

Similarly, it said the average price of 1kg of onion bulb rose by 25.64 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N346.96 in December 2021 to N435.93 in December 2022. While on a month-on-month basis, the price rose by 2.40 per cent.

According to the report, the average price of Palm oil increased by 28.73 per cent from N795.57 in December 2021 to N1,024 in December 2022. It also grew by 1.74 per cent on a month-on-month basis.

It added that the average price of Vegetable oil (1 bottle, specify bottle) stood at N1,161.76 in December 2022, showing an increase of 29.60 per cent from N896.39 in December 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, it rose by 1.64 per cent from N1,142.99 in November 2022.

States

At the state level, the highest average price of rice (locally sold loose) was recorded in Rivers at N655.92, while the lowest was recorded in Jigawa at N386.01.

Cross-rivers recorded the highest average price of 1kg onion bulb at N1,013.96, while the lowest was reported in Kogi at N198.12.

Imo recorded the highest price of Vegetable oil (1 bottle, specify bottle) at N1,597.22, while Benue recorded the lowest at N702.78.

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Data on a regional basis showed that the average price of 1kg beef boneless was higher in the South -East and South-South at N2,936.49 and N2,647.59 respectively, while the lowest was recorded in the North-East at N1,989.86.

The South-south recorded the highest average price of 1kg rice (locally sold loose) at N564.37, followed by the South-West at N528.36, while the lowest was recorded in the North-West at N447.05.

The North-west recorded the highest average price of Palm oil: (1 bottle, specify bottle) at N1,161.44, followed by the South-east at N1,142.67, while the North-central recorded the least at N792.69.