The impact of the removal of fuel subsidies and the ongoing depreciation of the naira made the impact of higher food prices and transportation costs, which reflect the growing struggle of households to meet daily feeding needs, worsened Nigeria’s annual inflation rate, which increased to 24.08 percent in July, the highest in 18 years. Increases in the price of staple foods including fish, potatoes, yams, and other tubers, fruits, meat, vegetables, milk, cheese, and eggs, as well as oil and fat, bread, and cereal, contributed to the increase in inflation, which is 1.29 percentage points higher than the rate of 22.79% in June. The average CPI for the year ending in July 2023 increased by 21.92% compared to the average CPI for the year prior, indicating an increase in prices.
In July 2023, the annualized rate of food inflation was 26.98%, which was 4.97% points higher than the rate observed in July 2022 (22.02%). The food inflation rate in July 2023 was 3.45% on a monthly basis, which was 1.06% more than the rate seen in June 2023 (2.40%). For the twelve months ending in July 2023, the average annual rate of food inflation over the prior twelve-month average was 24.46%, an increase of 5.71% points from the average annual rate of change recorded in July 2022 (18.75%).
The prices of passenger air and ground transportation, car replacement parts, medical services, maintenance and repair of personal transport equipment, etc., all experienced the largest price rises.
Given the fact that no known solutions have been successfully implemented to reduce the ongoing insecurity and displacement difficulties in the North, the reasons for the ongoing increase in food prices are not news.In addition to being hampered by expensive shipping, the Northern Green Harvest encountered other challenges like flooding brought on by the ongoing rainy season.
