In November 2023, the overall inflation rate rose to 28.20%, surpassing the October 2023 rate of 27.33%, underscoring a worsening cost of living crisis in the country.
In its new ‘Consumer Price Index: November 2023’ released on Friday, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that headline inflation surged by 0.87 percentage points in November to a new record high in almost two decades.
When compared to November 2022, the year-on-year headline inflation rate was notably higher, marking an increase of 6.73% points from the 21.47% recorded in the same month the previous year.
Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate for November 2023 was 2.09%, showing a 0.35% increase from the October 2023 rate of 1.73%. This implies that the rate of average price level increase in November 2023 exceeded that observed in October 2023.
For November 2023, the year-on-year Food inflation rate stood at 32.84%, marking an increase of 8.72% points from the November 2022 rate of 24.13%.
The spike in Food inflation was driven by higher prices in categories such as Bread and Cereals, Oil and Fat, Potatoes, Yam and Other Tubers, Fish, Fruit, Meat, Vegetables, Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa.
On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate for November 2023 reached 2.42%, reflecting a 0.51% increase compared to the October 2023 rate of 1.91%. The monthly increase in Food inflation was attributed to a rise in the rate of average prices for Bread and Cereals, Oil and Fat, Meat, Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, Potatoes, Yam, and Other Tubers.
