The National Bureau of Statistics says Nigeria’s inflation has dropped for its fifth consecutive month. 

In its report released on Wednesday, the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, fell by 17.01 per cent in August. 

The NBS had recorded 17.38 per cent in July.  

“The consumer price index, which measures inflation, increased by 17.01 per cent (year-on-year) in August 2021,” the report said. “This is 0.37 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in July 2021 (17.38) per cent.” 

The data collection body observed that the food price slowly increased in August due to price moderation of items such as bread and cereals, milk, cheese and egg, oils and fats, potatoes, yam and other tuber, food products, meat and coffee, tea and cocoa.

On the other hand, the core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, also slowed to 13.41 per cent in August 2021, down by 0.31 per cent compared with 13.72 per cent in July.

This is the fifth consecutive month that Nigeria has recorded a downward slope in its inflation rate since March. 

Inflation dropped from 18.17 per cent in March to 18.12 per cent in April before dropping further to 17.93 per cent, 17.75 per cent and 17.38 per cent in May, June, and July respectively.