Nigeria’s inflation rate climbed to 34.80% in December, up from 34.60% in November, FIJ can report.

This is according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.

The increase marks the fourth consecutive monthly increase in inflation,

The report linked the rise in prices and inflation to festive season demand. Compared to December 2023, inflation increased by 5.87%.

READ ALSO: Inflation Redefines Christmas for Nigerians From Sharing to Struggling in 2024

Food and non-alcoholic beverages were the biggest contributors to the inflation surge, with an 18.8% year-on-year increase. Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels followed with a 5.82% rise.

Urban inflation stood at 37.29%, while rural inflation was 32.47% on a year-on-year basis. Food inflation rose sharply to 39.84% year-on-year, driving the overall trend. On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate was 2.44% in December.

The NBS attributed the spike in food prices to increases in items such as yam, water yam, sweet potatoes, maize, rice, and dried fish like sardines and catfish.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy, continued its steady rise, reaching 29.28% year-on-year in December. This represents a 6.21% increase compared to 23.06% in December 2023. The report highlighted transport costs, particularly intercity travel, as a major driver of core inflation.

Among states, Bauchi recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate at 44.06%, followed by Sokoto at 42.43% and Kebbi at 41.47%. Katsina (28.33%), Delta (29.23%), and Imo (29.99%) recorded the lowest inflation rates.

READ ALSO: Nigerians Pay Triple for Food 17 Months After Tinubu’s Initial Food Security Declaration

On a month-on-month basis, the highest increases were seen in Kogi (5.40%), Cross River (4.38%), and Sokoto (4.29%). Meanwhile, Yobe (-1.82%), Kano (-0.57%), and Abuja (-0.02%) reported declines in monthly inflation rates.

CPI REBASING IN 2025

Nigeria is set to rebase its Consumer Price Index (CPI) in 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Rebasing means updating the base year used to calculate changes in the CPI, a key measure of inflation.

Currently, Nigeria uses 2009 as its base year. Starting January 2025, the NBS will switch to 2024 as the base year. This is the period against which all price changes are compared. The weight reference period, which measures spending patterns to determine the importance of each item in the index, will be set to 2023.

The NBS will also adopt a newer classification system, moving from the 2018 version of COICOP, the international standard for grouping consumer goods and services. Price data collection will become digital, include online retail outlets, and involve a full census of retail locations.

The basket of goods and services used to track price changes will expand from 760 items to 960. Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran, the Statistician General of the federation, stated that effective 2025, the rebasing would be done every five years, in line with international standards.