Yunusa Umar
On July 30, 2024, an X user @Sweetsixtien posted the inflation rate of different countries on X mentioning including the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Italy, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, United State of America and Nigeria with figures showing the inflation rate of each country.
The claim’s caption reads; “APC to Nigerians: “Inflation is everywhere!” Okay. Here are current inflation rates around the world: Europe:UK🇬🇧: 3.2%, Spain🇪🇸: 3.3%, Germany🇩🇪: 2.3%, Italy🇮🇹: 1.2%”
“West Africa; Ivory Coast🇨🇮:4%, Gambia🇬🇲:11%, Ghana🇬🇭: 22%, USA🇺🇲: 5% Nigeria🇳🇬: 40%. Allow them to GASLIGHT you.”
In the second post under the same thread, the X user said further, “In fact, Nigeria = 41% Source; Nigeria Bureau(NBS). Canada 🇨🇦=2.67%
“Our neighbours; TOGO🇹🇬= 4%, Benin🇧🇯=0.8%, Cameroon🇨🇲=5%. East Africa;Kenya🇰🇪=4.6%, Tanzania🇹🇿=3%,Uganda🇺🇬=3.9%.”
“IF you 🫵🏽 like don’t ✌🏽 protest, allow APC gaslight you & keep suffering while APC LOOT our future,” the X user further shared.
The post has had over 84,200 views, 2,494 reposts, 33 quotes, 3,106 likes and 108 bookmarks as of the time of publishing this report.
While X user @Ike_Chike commented on the post with a caption; “The interesting part is their inflation rarely rises by 1%. Those figures in some instance remain like that for decades. Giving room for planning and GDP growth. APC started shouting inflation is everywhere 9 years ago. 🙄Yet RECKLESS IN WASTING MEAGRE RESOURCES.”
Another X user like @Mustapha38390’s comment reads, “Deception is everywhere” while X user @AdeolaofCVE relied on the post with a different caption; “This post self get deception, where’s the Argentina?”.
Due to the multiple claims on inflation rate figures shared on the post, NV-A went on to verify the authenticity of the figures.
VERIFICATION
NV-A checked the inflation data of each country on reputable platforms to corroborate or debunk the X user’s claims.
Data derived from the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom indicates that inflation data of the country is 2.2 percent which rose for the first time.
Check into the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) in Spain by NV-A shows that the inflation rate decreased to 2.9 percent in July 2024 compared to 3.6 percent in June 2024.
The Federal statistical office in Germany put their inflation rate at 2.3 percent while the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) revealed that the inflation rate in Italy rose by 0.4 percent on a monthly basis and by 1.3 percent on an annual basis.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that headline inflation was 3% in June but reduced to 2.9 percent in July. Though, it increased 0.2 percent for the month-on-month analysis.
Ivory Coast’s Institut National De La Statistique stated that consumer prices in July increased by 0.2 percent over one month and by 2.3 percent over one year. Meanwhile, the Ghana Statistical Service reported that Ghana’s annual consumer inflation slowed for the 4th month to 20.9 percent in July 2024 from 22.8 percent in the prior month. The current rate is the lowest since March 2022.
The Central Bank of The Gambia puts the country’s inflation rate at 10.4 percent, showing a decrease from the 11 percent report in May 2024. Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that the headline inflation rate for July decreased to 33.40 percent in July compared to 34.19 percent in June.
According to Statistic Canada, the consumer Price Index rose to 2.7 percent on a year-over-year basis in June, down from a 2.9 percent gain in May.
Togo’s Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques et Démographiques (INSEED) reported that the country’s inflation rate was 3.6 percent in July 2024, down from 3.8 percent in June. Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie (INStaD) of Benin Republic put the country’s Harmonized Consumer Price Index for July 2024 at 112.4 compared to 111.8 a month earlier, a variation of +0.5 percent.
Institut National de la Statistique du Cameroun (INS-Cameroun) revealed that Cameroon’s Consumer Price increased by 0.4 percent in June 2024 and by 5.7 percent on average over the past twelve months.
Checks by NV-A into The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) show that the inflation rate fell to 4.3 percent in July 2024 from 4.6 percent the previous month.
Data obtained from Tanzania’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated that the Consumer Price Index in the country decreased to 3.0 percent in July 2024 from 3.0 percent recorded in June. Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) said that core consumer prices in Uganda increased to 4.0 percent in July 2024 from 3.9 percent in the prior month.
CONCLUSION
NV-A findings revealed that the figures posted by the X user for Germany, Italy, Gambia, Ghana, Canada, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are TRUE while the ones for the other countries including Nigeria are MISLEADING.
