Kogi, Lagos, Bayelsa Top List of States Not to Buy Food From as Inflation Hits 24.8 Per Cent
- About three states in Nigeria top the list of states with the highest cost of food as inflation skyrockets
- Kogi, Lagos, and Bayelsa states are witnessing the highest food inflation for July 2023
- Analysts have asked the Nigerian government to invest in food subsidies to cushion the effect of the petrol subsidy removal
Nigeria’s headline inflation hit 24.08% for June 2023 in the recently released data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS report said the increase represents 1.29% points from the June 2023 inflation report.
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Per the report, the inflation for July 2023 is due to increased contributions of some items in the basket of goods and services at the regional levels.
Items hardest hit by inflation
- Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages - 12.47%
- Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuel - 4.03%
- Clothing & Footwear- 1.84%
- Transport- 1.57%
- Furnishings & Household Equipment & Maintenance - 1.21%
- Education - 0.95%
- Health - 0.72%
- Restaurants & Hotels -0.29%
- Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco & Kola - 0.26%
- Recreation & Culture - 0.17%
- and Communication -0.16%
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Food inflation rose to 26.98%
According to the report, the food sub-index spiked by 26.98% yearly, representing 4.97% points higher than the rate recorded in June last year at 22.02%.
NBS reports that an increase in prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, yam, and other tubers caused the yearly increase in the food index.
Others are fruits, meat, vegetable, milk, cheese, and eggs.
Farmers lament high cost of transportation
Also, the food inflation rate monthly in July 2023 increased to 3.45%, representing 1.06% points higher than the rate recorded in June 2023 at 2.40%, the report stated.
Inflation on farm produce stood at 20.47% in July 2023 yearly.
Farmers said that the increase was driven by passenger transport by air, road, vehicle spare parts, medical services, maintenance, and repair of personal transport items.
Nigerian states with the highest food inflation
On a state level, the report shows that Kogi recorded the highest increases in food inflation at 34.53%, Lagos at 32.52%, and Bayelsa at 31.31%.
Others are Jigawa at 20.90%, Sokoto at 21.63%, and Kebbi at 22.45%.
Kogi, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa recorded the highest inflation in July, while Taraba, Jigawa, and Yobe states recorded the slowest food inflation monthly.
Analyst wants government to provide food subsidy
Justine Chukwuka, an economist and banker, said that food inflation is caused by the removal of subsidies from petrol which drove the cost of transportation to the roof.
“The arrowhead of every inflation report in Nigeria has always been food inflation. Food inflation is an area the government needs to pay attention to.
“If you removed subsidy from petrol, you should invest it elsewhere and, in this case, in food subsidy.”
Read also
N657 per litre: Fuel price increases the most in Borno, Abia, other Nigerian states in July
Nigerians are spending so much on food. Governments all over the world invest in food subsidies. In the US, for example, farmers are paid to farm and even for wasted food items.”
Chukwuka stated that Nigeria and other African countries are plagued with food insecurity, citing a World Bank report.
Nigerian workers' salaries slashed by 19% as inflation rate rises to 18-year-High, 3 states worst hit
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that The National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) has revealed that Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose for the seventh straight month, nearing an 18-year high of 24.08% in July 2023
The bureau stated this in its latest inflation report on Tuesday, August 15, 2023.
The report also stated that inflation rose to 24.08% in July 2023 from 22.79% the previous month. This is as the food inflation rate quickened to 26.98% in July from 25.25% last month.
Source: Legit.ng
