Nigeria’s headline inflation increased for the 18th time in June 2024 to 34.19 percent from 33 95 percent recorded in May amid worsening hardship.

The National Bureau of Statistics disclosed this in its latest Consumer Price Index and Inflation report released on Monday.

Looking at the movement, the June 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.24 percent points when compared to the May 2024 headline inflation rate.

On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.40 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in June 2023, which was 22.79 percent.

This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in June 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e. June 2023).

Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in June 2024 was 2.31 percent, which was 0.17 percent higher than the rate recorded in May 2024 (2.14 percent).

This means that in June 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in May 2024.

Accordingly, the country’s inflation rate has been on a steady increase since December 2023 when it stood at 28.92 percent.

The development has seen the prices of goods and services rise in the period under view.

This is as Nigerians continue to groan over the economic hardship caused by price hikes.