Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 34.80% in December 2024, up from 34.60% in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Wednesday.
The marginal 0.20% increase was attributed to heightened demand for goods and services during the festive season, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, which tracks changes in the prices of goods and services.
“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.87% higher than the rate recorded in December 2023, which stood at 28.92%,” the report stated.
Food inflation for December 2024 stood at 39.84% on a year-on-year basis, up from 33.93% in December 2023. The rise was linked to increased prices of key items, including yam, sweet potatoes, maize, rice, bread, cereals, fish, and beer.
The sharp increase in inflation highlights Nigeria’s worsening cost of living crisis, considered one of the worst in the country’s history since gaining independence.
Since President Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, when inflation was 22.41%, the rate has soared by more than 12 percentage points, reaching 34.80% in December 2024. Economists have attributed the surge to Tinubu’s economic reforms, including the removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of forex rates.
In presenting a ₦49.7 trillion budget to the National Assembly on December 18, 2024, Tinubu outlined plans to reduce inflation to 15% by 2025. However, experts have described the goal as ambitious, given the prevailing economic challenges.
