ECONOMISTS often describe inflation as a monetary phenomenon. But in Nigeria, it tends to wear regional garb in terms of its steepness.
Though inflation, which stood at 17.38 per cent in July, is a major concern nationwide, the growth speed seems faster in some regions than others, data have shown.
The trend is not new entirely. Last year, food inflation was more severe in the north with states in the region consistently topping the index and exceeding the national average. Kogi, Kwara, Zamfara and Sokoto, for instance, were consistently among the top three states with the fastest food inflation. This is becoming a common pattern in the composite figure.
Last month, for instance, Bauchi, Kogi and Kaduna topped the year-on-year (YoY) changes in the inflation index with 22.49, 22.04 and 20.42 per cent. The month-on-month (MoM) change index was equally led by Kebbi, Yobe and Bauchi.
On the other hand, Kwara was the only state from the northern region that broke into the rank of states with the slowest inflation rate, both in terms of YoY and MoM analysis. On YoY, Akwa Ibom topped the list, then Delta followed by Kwara.
As for MoM, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa were the slowest states. The three states recorded deflation, technically referred to as deflation, in July.
Also, nine northern states as against four from the south reported an inflation rate that was above the 17.38 per cent national average. Leading states whose inflation rates trumped the national average were Lagos and Kano.
Composite food segment figures were, however, more national in outlook. According to the July consumer price index (CPI) released by the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday, Kogi recorded the highest food inflation at 28.51 per cent. Enugu and Lagos followed in that order while Akwa Ibom, Bauchi and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sat on the bottom.
On MoM analysis, Kebbi, Yobe and Delta recorded the fastest while Sokoto, Awkwa Ibom and Imo recorded the slowest growth. Figures from the three states were deflationary.
Driven by sharp rise in the prices of milk, cheese/eggs, coffee, tea/cocoa, vegetables, bread/cereals, soft drinks and meat, food inflation remained extremely high at 20.03 per cent. That was over seven percentage points above the core inflation, which stood at 13.72 per cent. Core inflation measures other less volatile items (mostly food).
The wide differential between food and core inflation points to a rising crisis around food production, cost of transportation, seasonality and availability. Reports suggest that a large portion of food produced in Nigeria is wasted between farms and markets owing to poor storage.
Urban inflation slowed from 18.35 to 18.01 per cent in July just as rural inflation was 16.75 per cent at the last count. The difference underscores the impact of the rising cost of transporting food to the cities. With the concentration of manufacturing plants and ports in the urban areas, prices of non-food items tend to increase faster in rural areas.
The margin also gives an idea about the contribution of the food crisis to the general rise in the cost of living in the country. The food inflation number implies that food items rise about 50 per cent faster than other items in the basket.
Even with the moderate deceleration of the country’s headline inflation, the country still sits in the 14th position on the global inflation ranking. As of May, the inflation rate in Venezuela was 2720 per cent, earning it the country with the steepest inflation. Comoros is at the bottom of the rating with an inflation rate of -4.77 per cent.
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