Three new indices to measure price volatility will be added to the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Thursday, according to a joint announcement from the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
When the bureau announced the development at the GDP and CPI rebasing sensitization session held in Lagos State, it promised that the three indices will be made available in January 2025.
Dr. Ayo Andrew, the NBS’s Head of Price Statistics, stated during the summit that the indices would monitor changes in the costs of electricity, agricultural produce, education, and transportation.
“We are going to include another index that has never been released before in the new CPI rebased that will be released this January, in addition to our normal headline inflation, core inflation, and food inflation—the fundamentals,” he stated.
“Number one is the services index. At what rate are the prices of services in Nigeria increasing? People want to know about (those figures) in education and transport.
“NBS will bring that on board by the end of this month. Also energy index, at what rate is price fluctuating in this sector?
“Farm produce index, what is the rate of price volatility of these products, and at what rate are prices of items in this sector moving? So these are the special indices that we are going to release at the end of this month.”
CPI’s next base year is 2024.
In order to reflect current conditions and take into consideration structural changes in the economy, the NBS announced plans in October 2024 to rebase the GDP and CPI. The new additions are anticipated to be included in the rebased CPI.