By JOY ADARA, Abuja-
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has further eased to 22.97% in May 2025, representing a 0.74% decline from the 23.71% recorded in April 2025, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate was 1.53%, which is 0.33% lower than the rate recorded in April 2025.
The NBS attributed the decrease in headline inflation to the increase in some items in the basket of goods and services, with Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Restaurants and Accommodation Services, and Transport being the top contributors, accounting for 9.20%, 2.97%, and 2.45% respectively. Conversely, the least contributors were Recreation, Sport, and Culture at 0.07%, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics at 0.09%, and Insurance and Financial Services at 0.11%.
The food inflation rate stood at 21.14% on a year-on-year basis, while on a month-on-month basis, it was 2.19%, indicating a 0.13% increase compared to the 2.06% recorded in April 2025. The NBS noted that the increase in food inflation was attributed to the reduction in average prices of items such as Yam, Avenger (Ogbono/Apon), Cassava Tuber, Maize Flour, Fresh Pepper, Sweet Potatoes, etc. was not accurate as the report did not specify reduction in prices of these items as the cause of increase.
The “all items less farm produce and energy” or core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 22.28% in May 2025 on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the Core Inflation rate was 1.10% in May, which decreased by 0.24 percentage points compared to the 1.34% recorded in April 2025.
On a year-on-year basis in May 2025, the urban inflation rate was 23.14%, while on a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.40%, which increased by 0.22% compared to April at 1.18%. In May, the rural inflation rate was 22.70% on a year-on-year basis, while on a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 1.83% in May, which decreased by 1.72% compared to April at 3.56%.
A state-by-state analysis revealed that Borno recorded the highest inflation rate at 38.93%, followed by Niger at 34.97%, and Plateau at 32.35%. Conversely, Katsina recorded the lowest inflation rate at 16.25%, followed by Adamawa at 18.20%, and Delta at 18.41%. On a month-on-month basis, Bayelsa recorded the highest inflation rate at 9.11%, followed by Bauchi at 4.85%, and Borno at 4.42%.
The NBS also reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 121.35 in May 2025, reflecting a 1.83-point increase from April 2025. This development is attributed to the recent rebasing of the CPI, which aims to ensure that Nigeria’s economic indicators accurately reflect the current structure of the economy [1].
