Last year, Nigeria recorded its worst inflation in 21 years printing a headline inflation rate of 18.85%, the highest since 2001. This is according to an analysis by Nairalytics, the research arm of Nairametrics.
Further analysis of data from the Nairalytics website shows that Kogi, Bauchi, and Ebonyi led the list of states in Nigeria with the highest inflation rate in the year 2022.
A breakdown of the data revealed that Nigeria’s inflation woe in the review year was caused by the surge in energy prices following the Russia-Ukraine war, flooding, increased money in circulation, and imported inflation amongst others.
Most states in Nigeria have endured doubled digit inflation rate in the past five years, which worsened in the last three years, on the backdrop of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The Russia-Ukraine war earlier in 2022 exacerbated the inflationary pressure in the country, resulting in unprecedented inflation rate levels by most states.
States with worst inflation: Kogi State led the list of states in Nigeria with the worst inflation in 2022, printing a headline inflation rate of 21.2%, slightly lower than the average of 21.97% recorded in the previous year.
- Notably, Kogi State has recorded the worst inflation rate for the second year in a row. Bauchi State recorded an average inflation of 20.87% in 2022, higher than the 20.7% recorded in the previous year.
- Ebonyi State printed an annual average inflation rate of 20.61%, representing the third state with the worst inflation numbers in 2022. Its inflation rate increased by almost 300 basis points from 17.84% recorded in the previous year.
- Others on the list include Akwa Ibom (20.47%), Rivers (20.05%), Ondo (20.02%), Kebbi (19.85%), Bayelsa (19.6%), Lagos (19.35%), and Cross River with 19.26%.
On the other hand: Sokoto State recorded the lowest inflation rate in the year under review with 17.17%, lower than the 17.9% printed in the previous year. Borno State saw its inflation rate increase from 16.04% to 17.48% in 2022, however, was second best in terms of inflation rate by state.
- Kaduna State recorded an average inflation rate of 17.49%, closely followed by Kwara State with 17.51%.
