Average inflation in Nigeria

Measures the change in the price of a representative basket of goods and services bought by Nigerian households. It is published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and is the country's main gauge of inflation.

Compiled from a regular price survey across a wide sample of states and outlets, weighting each item by its spending share on an index with a base year of 100; food carries a very high weight. Average annual inflation averages the year's year-on-year changes.

Inflation is one of Nigeria's most sensitive variables and the key reference for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) when setting rates. A high reading, closely tied to food and the naira, tends to point to rate rises and erodes household purchasing power.

It captures only the defined basket, and the heavy food weight together with naira depreciation makes it highly volatile. For the underlying trend, core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed food, is followed.