Inflation Declines Further To 18.02% 

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 18.02 per cent in September 2025, compared to 20.12 per cent recorded in August, representing a decline of 2.1 percentage points.

According to the NBS’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, released on Wednesday, the new data reflects the outcome of a recent CPI rebasing exercise. The exercise now uses 2024 as the new base year and 2023 as the weight reference period.

The statistics agency explained that the moderation in inflation was influenced by slower price increases across key consumer divisions, particularly food and non-alcoholic beverages, restaurants and accommodation services, and transport, the three major contributors to the headline index.

Economic experts attributed the decline in the inflation rate to a combination of factors, including improved agricultural output, exchange rate stability, and macroeconomic policy improvements.

At the divisional level, food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 7.21 per cent, restaurants and accommodation Services 2.33 per cent, and transport 1.92 per cent to the overall inflation rate.

The least contributors were recreation, sport, and culture (0.06 per cent), alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics (0.07 per cent), and Insurance and financial services (0.08 per cent).

On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate stood at 0.72 percent in September, slightly below the 0.74 percent recorded in August, indicating a 0.02 percentage point moderation.

The NBS report showed that food inflation slowed to 16.87 per cent year-on-year in September. Month over month, food inflation declined by 1.57 per cent, representing a 3.22 percentage point drop from 1.65 per cent recorded in August.

The bureau attributed this decline to falling average prices of staple food items, including maize, garri, beans, millet, potatoes, onions, eggs, tomatoes, and fresh pepper.

The core inflation rate, which excludes prices of volatile agricultural commodities and energy, stood at 19.53 percent year-on-year in September 2025. On a month-on-month basis, it was 1.42 per cent, down slightly from 1.43 per cent in August.

Analysis of sub-indices showed that Services rose by 1.17 per cent, while Goods increased by 0.44 per cent, with corresponding indices of 129.7 and 126.4, respectively. In contrast, farm produce and energy recorded declines of -0.75 percent and -0.47 percent.

Urban inflation stood at 17.50 per cent year-on-year, while the month-on-month rate was 0.74 per cent, up by 0.25 percentage points from 0.49 per cent in August.

In contrast, rural inflation was 18.26 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The month-on-month rate for rural areas fell to 0.67 per cent, lower by 0.71 percentage points from 1.38 per cent in August.

thewyreng