Nigeria's inflation rate rose to 18.60 percent in June, up from 17.71 percent reported in the previous month, according to data released Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The latest inflation rate is the highest recorded in the most populous African country since January 2017 when it reached 18.72 percent.

Nigeria's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, indicated that the rate increased by 0.85 percent points compared to the rate recorded in June 2021, which is 17.75 percent.

Increases were recorded in all classifications of individual consumption according to purpose, the NBS said, adding the high inflation rate attributes to a large extent to the rise in the food index, with the CPI rate in food hitting 20.60 percent in June, up from 19.50 percent in May, and also increasing for the fourth consecutive month since March this year.

The urban inflation rate increased to 19.09 percent year-on-year in June from 18.35 percent recorded in the same period in 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased to 18.13 percent in June from 17.16 percent recorded in June 2021, the NBS said.