Nigeria’s inflation rate fell further in November, offering fresh relief to households after years of punishing price increases that triggered a deep cost-of-living crisis.
The latest data released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that headline inflation moderated to 14.45 per cent in November 2025, down from 16.05 per cent in October, marking a 1.6 percentage-point decline month-on-month.
The easing trend reflects sustained improvements in price stability after inflation peaked near 35 per cent in December last year, before moderating following adjustments to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) base year and a reweighting of items in the inflation basket.
According to the NBS, food inflation also slowed sharply, dropping to 11.08 per cent year-on-year in November, compared with 13.12 per cent in October.
“The Consumer Price Index rose to 130.5 in November 2025, reflecting a 1.6-point increase from the preceding month (128.9),” the bureau said.
“In November 2025, the Headline inflation rate eased to 14.45 per cent relative to the October 2025 headline inflation rate of 16.05 per cent.
“Looking at the movement, the November 2025 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.6 per cent compared to the October 2025 Headline inflation rate,” the report added.
On an annual average basis, the data painted an even clearer picture of easing pressures. The average CPI for the twelve months ending November 2025 rose by 20.41 per cent, a sharp slowdown from the 32.77 per cent recorded in November 2024.
Despite the improvement, food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the biggest driver of inflation, contributing 5.78 percentage points to the headline figure on a year-on-year basis. This was followed by restaurants and accommodation services (1.87 percentage points), transport (1.54 percentage points), housing and utilities (1.22 percentage points), education (0.90 percentage points), and health (0.88 percentage points).
At the month-on-month level, food and non-alcoholic beverages again led price increases, accounting for 0.49 percentage points, while restaurants and accommodation services contributed 0.16 percentage points and transport 0.13 percentage points.
A breakdown by location showed a notable easing in urban areas. Urban inflation stood at 13.61 per cent year-on-year in November, representing a dramatic 23.49 percentage-point drop from 37.10 per cent recorded in November 2024. Month-on-month urban inflation slowed to 0.95 per cent, down from 1.14 per cent in October, while the twelve-month average eased to 20.80 per cent.
In rural areas, inflation remained higher at 15.15 per cent year-on-year, but still reflected a 17.12 percentage-point decline from the 32.27 per cent recorded a year earlier.
However, rural inflation accelerated on a month-on-month basis to 1.88 per cent, up from 0.45 per cent in October, pointing to stronger price pressures outside major cities.
Food inflation moderated significantly on an annual basis, falling to 11.08 per cent year-on-year, down from 39.93 per cent in November 2024. Month-on-month food inflation, however, rose to 1.13 per cent from a contraction of 0.37 per cent in October, driven by higher prices of items such as dried tomatoes, cassava tubers, shelled periwinkle, ground pepper, eggs, crayfish, egusi, oxtail, and fresh onions.
The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending November stood at 19.68 per cent, compared with 38.67 per cent in the same period of 2024.
Core inflation — which excludes volatile food and energy prices — also eased to 18.04 per cent year-on-year in November, down from 28.75 per cent a year earlier. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation slowed slightly to 1.28 per cent, while the twelve-month average fell to 20.76 per cent.
Other indicators showed mixed movements, with farm produce inflation rising to 0.79 per cent from zero in October, while energy inflation increased to 1.08 per cent from 0.50 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reiterated its commitment to driving inflation lower, even as it held its benchmark interest rate steady at 27 per cent.
“Headline inflation remains high at double digits, requiring sustained efforts towards moderating it further,” CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso said at a recent press briefing.
“The decision was underpinned by the need to sustain the progress made so far towards achieving low and stable inflation.”
Cardoso added that the bank had adjusted the corridor around the Monetary Policy Rate to +50 to -450 basis points, cutting its deposit rate to encourage banks to lend more to the real economy rather than parking funds with the central bank.
With inflation easing steadily and macroeconomic conditions showing signs of stabilisation, analysts say the November figures reinforce cautious optimism that the worst of Nigeria’s inflationary surge may be over.
