What inflation looks like across Nigeria

The former Prime Minister of the UK, Margaret Thatcher, once said that "Inflation devalues us all". And I couldn't agree more.

I thought of an inflation example to show how far the naira's value has eroded over the years, and I remembered the banknotes. When I was still very young, the ₦5 note was still widely used. There were items you could buy for less than ₦5, they might not have been high-quality items, but they existed.

Today I don't know anything priced less than ₦10. I also usually go weeks before seeing anything less than a ₦50 note.

This story is not about the notes in circulation, but it gives you a good sense of how goods and services have consistently become more expensive in Nigeria.

One of the easiest ways to explain or see the phenomenon is through something we can all relate to—food.

Understanding inflation

SBMIntel, Nigerian research and