The National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday released the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, with the index dropping year-on-year from 15.98 per cent in September to 15.91 per cent in October.

The bureau stated in the report, which was made available to our correspondent, that this was the ninth consecutive month since January this year that the index would be slowing down.

The report stated that the food index increased by 20.31 per cent year-on-year in October, down marginally by 0.01 percentage point from the 20.32 per cent recorded in September

The NBS report noted that food price pressure continued into September though generally at a slower pace.

It noted that while the average year-on-year food inflation for the first five months of the year stood at 18.67 per cent, the average year-on-year food inflation for the next five months of the year (June to October 2017) was higher at 20.22 per cent.

This, it noted, indicated higher food price inflation on average in the second five months of the year compared to the first five months.

On a month-on-month basis, the report stated that the food sub-index increased by 0.85 per cent in October, down from 0.87 per cent recorded in August.

It added, “The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, increased by 15.91 per cent (year-on-year) in October 2017. This was 0.07 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in September (15.98 per cent), making it the ninth consecutive disinflation since January 2017.”

The NBS said while the headline year-on-year inflation for the first five months of the year stood at 17.45 per cent, the average headline year-on-year inflation for the next five months of the year (June to October 2017) stood at 16.01 per cent, indicating disinflation from June to date, compared to from January to May 2017.