By John Ikani
Inflation has again dropped to 17.93 per cent in May, signaling an improvement from the 18.12 per cent recorded in April.
This is contained in the Consumer Price Index report, recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Since the first quarter of 2021, inflation has spiked from 16.47 per cent per cent in January to 17.33 per cent in February, 18.17 per cent and 18.12 per cent in March and April.
The report shows food inflation plunged to 22.28 per cent in May compared to the 22.72 per cent recorded in April.
The ”All items less farm produce” or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 13.15% in May 2021, up by 0.41% when compared with 12.74% recorded in April 2021.
The highest increases were recorded in prices of Pharmaceutical products, Garments, Shoes and other footwear, Hairdressing salons and personal grooming establishments, Furniture and furnishing, Carpet and other floor covering.
Kogi State recorded the highest inflation at 25.13 per cent closely followed by Bauchi and Sokoto with 23.02 per cent and 20.11 per cent respectively.
”Katsina (15.69 per cent), Imo (15.52 per cent) and Delta (14.85 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in headline Year on Year inflation,” said NBS.
During the period, food inflation on a year on year basis was highest in Kogi (32.82 per cent), Kwara (26.02 per cent) and Enugu (25.43 per cent), while Akwa Ibom (20.06 per cent), Bauchi (18.65 per cent) and Abuja (16.91 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in year on year inflation.
