MON, APRIL. 17 2023-theGBJournal | The March inflation figures published over the weekend by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed consumer prices maintained their uptrend for the third consecutive month after the moderation witnessed in December 2022.
Precisely, in March 2023, the headline inflation rate rose to 22.04% compared to February 2023 headline inflation rate which was 21.91%.
Looking at the trend, the March 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.13% points when compared to February 2023 headline inflation rate.
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.13% points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2022 which was 15.92%. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in March 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., March 2022).
The contributions of items on the divisional level to the increase in the headline index are food & non-alcoholic beverages (11.42%); housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuel (3.69%); clothing & footwear (1.69%); transport (1.43%); furnishings, household equipment & maintenance (1.11%); education (0.87%); health (0.66%); miscellaneous goods & services (0.37%); restaurant & hotels (0.27%); alcoholic beverage, tobacco & kola (0.24%); recreation & culture (0.15%) and communication (0.15%).
However, on a month-on-month basis, the All-Items Index in March 2023 was 1.86%, which was 0.15% points higher than the rate recorded in February 2023 (1.71%). This means that in March 2023, on average, the general price level was 0.15% higher relative to February 2023.
The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months period ending March 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 20.37%, showing a 3.83% increase compared to 16.54% recorded in March 2022.
Food inflation maintained its uptrend, rising to 24.45% on a year-on-year basis, which was 7.25% points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2022 (17.20%). The rise in food inflation on- year on year basis was caused by increases in prices of Oil and fat, Bread and cereals, Potatoes, Yam and other tubers, Fish, Fruits, Meat, Vegetables, and Spirits.
On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in March 2023 was 2.07%, this was 0.16% higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023 (1.90%). The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending March 2023 over the previous twelve months’ average was 22.72%, which was 3.50% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in March 2022 (19.21%).
The core inflation in March 2023 rose to 19.86% in March 2023 on a year-on-year basis after its first moderation in 11 months.
The highest increases were recorded in prices of Gas, Passenger transport by Air, Liquid fuel, Fuels, and Lubricants for personal transport equipment, Vehicles spare parts, Maintenance, and repair of personal transport equipment, Medical services, Passenger transport by road, etc. On a month-on-month basis, the Core inflation rate was 1.84% in March 2023, up by 0.78% from 1.06% in February 2023.
The average twelve months annual inflation rate was 17.41% for the twelve months ending March 2023; this was 3.85% points higher than the 13.56% recorded in March 2022.
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