The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined to 22.97 percent in May 2025, compared to 23.71 percent recorded in April.
According to the announcement made by NBS on Monday regarding its consumer price index (CPI):
“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 10.98% lower than the rate recorded in May 2024 (33.95%).”
“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in May 2025 was 1.53%, which was 0.33% lower than the rate recorded in April 2025 (1.86%).”
“This means that in May 2025, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in April 2025.”
NBS explained that the headline inflation rate was influenced by rising costs in food, housing, and transportation.
FOOD INFLATION ROSE TO 21.14%
The bureau noted that the food inflation rate in May 2025 stood at 21.14 percent on a year-on-year comparison.
However, when assessed on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate was 2.19 percent during the period under review, “up by 0.12% compared to April 2025 (2.06%)”.
“The increase can be attributed to the rate of decrease in the average prices of Yam, Avenger (Ogbono/Apon), Cassava Tuber, Maize Flour, Fresh Pepper, Sweet Potatoes, etc,” NBS stated.
“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending May 2025 over the previous twelve-month average was 29.80%, which was 4.26% points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in May 2024 (34.06%).”
According to the report, Borno (64.36 percent), Bayelsa (39.85 percent), and Taraba (38.58 percent) experienced the highest year-on-year food inflation.
Meanwhile, Katsina (6.90 percent), Rivers (9.18 percent), and Kwara (11.31 percent) recorded the lowest year-on-year food inflation increases.
On a month-on-month basis, the highest food inflation was observed in Bayelsa (12.68 percent), Cross River (11.15 percent), and Anambra (9.10 percent), while the slowest rates were in Katsina (-5.42 percent), Jigawa (-4.02 percent), and Kaduna (-3.27 percent).
