Nigeria: Inflation moderates in January
February 14, 2018
In January, consumer prices increased 0.80% on a month-on-month basis, above December’s 0.59% rise. January’s reading marked a five-month high. The uptick was chiefly due to higher growth in food prices.
Inflation came in at 15.1% in January, the lowest level since April 2016 and below December’s 15.4%. Despite moderating significantly over the course of last year (January 2017: 18.7%), inflation in Nigeria remains well above the Central Bank’s target range of 6.0%–9.0%.
Core consumer prices, which exclude volatile agricultural produce, grew 0.75% month-on-month in January, notably below the 0.50% reported in the previous month. Meanwhile, core inflation inched up to 12.7% in January (December: 12.6%).
Nigeria Inflation Forecast
FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect inflation to average 12.5% in 2018, which is down 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast. In 2019, inflation is seen averaging 10.4%.
Author: Angela Bouzanis, Senior Economist
