Inflationary Trend in Basic Amenities in Ibadan Oyo State, Nigeria using Price Indices

Abstract

Trend of inflation was studied using price indices gotten from market survey conducted on the prices of food, clothes and building materials collected from major  markets in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria in 2004 and 2014, 2004 being the base year. The price indices used were Laspeyres’, Paache’s, Fisher’s Ideal (FI) and Dorbey’s and Bowley’s (DB) with emphasis on Fisher’s and DB because of their advantages over others. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on prices of food, clothes and building materials in these markets in 2004 and 2014. The results showed an increase between 40.27 and 460.26% increase in the prices of food items; an increase between 13.93 and 84.04% in the price of food items (provisions) except custard with a reduction of 15%; an increase between 11.2 and 100% in prices of cloths except ankara with less than 8% reduction in price and an increase between 5.9 and 69.7% in the price of building materials. Since price change affects planning, especially when citizen are face with stable income, efforts must be made by relevant authorities to control and stabilize the prices of these commodities.

Keywords: Inflation, Basic amenities, Market survey, Price indices, Ibadan