Inflation rate now 17.33%, highest since April 2017

The consumer price index in Nigeria, increased to 17.33% in February from 16.5% in January 2021.

This is the highest point since April 2017.

The Consumer price index is a measure that examines the changes in the purchasing-power of a currency. It measures changes in the price level of market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households.

The movement of the Consumer Price Index is the main measure for inflation rate.

Therefore, an increasing CPI might indicate that the Nigerian purchase power is decreasing.

In fact at the moment, Nigeria ranks as one of the countries with the highest inflation rate worldwide.

According to the CPI/Inflation report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the food inflation stood at 21.79%, the highest point since the 2009.

This the NBS said can be attributed to increases in the prices of bread, cereals, fish, potatoes, yam and other tubers, vegetables, meat, oils and fats, fruits and food products.

However, core inflation, which excludes the prices of agricultural items, increased to 12.38 percent in February compared to 11.85 percent in January 2021.