Nigeria’s inflation rate drops by 0.74% compared to April
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate dropped to 22.97% in May 2025, down from 23.71% in April, marking a 0.74 percentage point decrease. This is the second consecutive monthly decline, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The CPI rose to 121.35 in May, showing a modest increase from April, but Nigeria’s inflation rate is slowing. On a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate stood at 1.53%, lower than April’s 1.86%, indicating a slower rise in average prices.
Compared to May 2024, the year-on-year of Nigeria’s inflation rate fell by 10.98 percentage points, from 33.95% to 22.97%, largely due to a change in the CPI base year (now November 2009 = 100).
Nigeria’s inflate rate: Food Inflation Also Declines Annually, Rises Monthly
Food inflation, which is a major component of the CPI, dropped to 21.14% year-on-year in May, down from 21.26% in April. This represents a 19.52 percentage point decrease from May 2024’s food inflation of 40.66%.
The NBS attributes the sharp year-on-year drop partly to the change in base year. However, on a month-on-month basis, food prices rose slightly by 2.19% in May, compared to 2.06% in April. The rise was driven by price increases in staples like yam, ogbono (avenger), cassava tuber, maize flour, fresh pepper, and sweet potatoes.
The average annual food inflation rate over the past 12 months (ending May 2025) stood at 29.80%, which is 4.26 percentage points lower than the 34.06% recorded in May 2024.
State-by-State Breakdown: Food Inflation Varies Widely
The NBS also highlighted regional differences in food inflation:
- Year-on-year (YoY):
- Highest: Borno (64.36%), Bayelsa (39.85%), Taraba (38.58%)
- Lowest: Katsina (6.90%), Rivers (9.18%), Kwara (11.31%)
- Month-on-month (MoM):
- Highest increases: Bayelsa (12.68%), Cross River (11.15%), Anambra (9.10%)
- Declines: Katsina (-5.42%), Jigawa (-4.02%), Kaduna (-3.27%)
