James Uche
Nigeria’s inflation rate has dropped for the fifth consecutive month, providing cautious relief for households and businesses struggling with rising costs.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its Consumer Price Index report released on Monday, said headline inflation eased to 20.12 per cent in August 2025, down from 21.88 per cent in July. This marks a sharp decline from the 32.15 per cent recorded in August 2024.
The statistics office explained that the moderation was driven largely by slower increases in food and urban prices. Month-on-month inflation fell to 0.74 per cent in August, compared to 1.99 per cent in July, signaling a cooling of price pressures.
“In August 2025, the headline inflation rate eased to 20.12 per cent relative to the July 2025 rate of 21.88 per cent. This represents a decrease of 1.76 percentage points,” the NBS report stated.
Food Inflation Still High but Easing
Food inflation, which has remained the strongest driver of Nigeria’s inflation basket, slowed to 21.87 per cent in August, down from 37.52 per cent in the same month of 2024. On a month-to-month basis, food inflation moderated to 1.65 per cent, from 3.12 per cent in July.
Staples such as rice, guinea corn flour, maize flour, millet, semolina, and soya milk recorded price declines, although insecurity and logistics bottlenecks in northern states continue to fuel high food costs.
Inflationary pressures remain uneven across the country. Urban inflation slowed to 19.75 per cent, while rural inflation was slightly higher at 20.28 per cent. On a monthly basis, urban inflation dropped to 0.49 per cent in August from 1.86 per cent, while rural inflation came in at 1.38 per cent, down from 2.30 per cent.
Ekiti, Kano, and Oyo posted the highest headline inflation rates at 28.17 per cent, 27.27 per cent, and 26.58 per cent respectively. On the other end, Zamfara (11.82 per cent), Anambra (14.16 per cent), and Enugu (14.20 per cent) recorded the lowest.
Food inflation was steepest in Borno (36.67 per cent), Kano (30.44 per cent), and Akwa Ibom (29.85 per cent), while Zamfara (3.30 per cent), Yobe (3.60 per cent), and Sokoto (6.34 per cent) posted the lowest rates.
The report comes ahead of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for September 22–23, 2025. With five consecutive months of disinflation, the CBN may gain some flexibility in monetary policy, though persistent core inflation — which rose on a monthly basis to 1.43 per cent in August — signals ongoing structural pressures in housing, energy, education, and healthcare.
Economists say the trend is encouraging but caution that Nigerians are still facing high living costs, especially in rural and conflict-affected areas.