Abuja, Sep 17 (IANS): Nigeria's headline inflation rate declined to 32.15 per cent in August, the second consecutive time of drop after a persistent rise in almost two years, the latest report released by the country's statistics bureau showed.

The consumer price index, a main inflation gauge, fell 1.25 percentage points compared to the 33.40 per cent recorded in July, according to the report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) obtained Tuesday by Xinhua news agency in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August was 2.22 per cent, which was 0.06 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in July, at 2.28 per cent, said the report. On a year-on-year basis, however, the headline inflation rate in August 2024 was 6.35 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in August 2023, at 25.80 per cent.

The increase in the headline index for August 2024 on a year-on-year basis was attributed to the rise in the prices of some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level, the NBS report said. These increases were observed in food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, gas, other fuel, clothing and footwear, and transport, to mention a few.