Nigeria’s inflation rate ballooned by 170% under President Buhari in 7 years

Nigeria’s consumer price index (CPI), which measures the level of inflation in the country has risen by 170.2% under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, between June 2015 and July 2022.

This is according to data tracked and analyzed by Nairalytics – the Research arm of Nairametrics. Recall that the president was sworn into office as the 15th President of the federation on Friday, 29 May 2015, following the presidential general election held, a position which he has occupied since then.

During the period, Nigeria’s consumer price index rose from 171.6 index points recorded in May 2015 to 463.6 points in July 2022, indicating an increase of 170.2%. In the same period, the food index rose by 209.5%, while core inflation spiked by 132.2% in the same vein.

The year-on-year inflation rate accelerated to a 17-year high in July 2022, following a significant rise in the cost of energy, and staple food items. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 19.64% in July 2022 from 18.6% in the previous month.

Nigerians now have to grapple with the high cost of virtually everything, as the underlying issues persist across the board. First, let us look at the disaggregated indices.

The health index, which tracks the cost of health services in the country has surged by 122.3% between May 2015 and July 2022, while on a year-on-year basis, the health inflation rate stood at 15.95% in July from 15.6% recorded in the previous month.

Also, the clothing and footwear index spiked by 146.3% in the review period, with the year-on-year rate at 17.73%.

Similarly, the transportation index jumped by 141.7% in the seven years, education recorded a 132.5% increase, and restaurants and hotels (132.5%).

It is worth adding that, despite significant intervention to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on food importation, we are primarily exposedosed to the global food crisis. Notably, the imported food index rose by 201.5%, a major contributor to the rise in the food index.

In the same vein, house water, electricity, gas, and other fuel recorded a 119.7% increase in their index between May 2015 and July 2022.