Average cost of living improved further as declining food prices and costs of logistics pushed inflation rate lower at 23.18 per cent.
Latest inflation report released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that headline inflation rate dropped by 130 basis points from 24.48 per cent in January to 23.18 per cent in February.
The report attributed the decline in headline inflationary pressures to notable reductions in prices of general staples among others.
According to the report, compared to the month of January, there was an observed decline in the average prices of food items like yam tuber, potatoes, soya beans, flour of maize and cornmeal, cassava and dried bambara beans among others.
The latest report is the second release after the NBS rebased the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and realigned its constituents to reflect historical changes in the economy. Prior to the rebasing, inflation had stood at 34.80 per cent in December 2024.
Experts had commended the rebasing given changes in consumption patterns, as the new methodology and composition were seen as more reflective of the economic dynamics.
The latest report also underlined a general improvement in living cost, with month-on-month inflation rate declining from 10.68 per cent in January to 2.04 per cent in February.
The report highlighted that on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 8.52 per cent lower than 31.70 per cent recorded in February 2024, though with a different base year.
A breakdown showed that while food and non- alcoholic contributed 0.82 per cent to the headline inflation, in the month under review, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 0.22 per cent to it.
The NBS stated that the percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending February over the average for the previous twelve-month period was 30.09 per cent showing 3.91 per cent points increase compared to 26.18 per cent recorded in February 2024.
On urban inflation, NBS stated that on a year-on-year, in February, the Urban inflation rate was 25.15 per cent, 8.51 per cent points lower to 33.66 per cent recorded in February 2024.
It said on a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate was 2.40 per cent in February.
The report added that the corresponding 12-month average for the Urban inflation rate was 32.22 per cent in February. This was 4.28 per cent points higher compared to the 27.93 per cent reported in February 2024.
On rural inflation, NBS said the rural inflation rate in February was 19.89 per cent on a year-on-year basis.