Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased for the first time in months, dropping to 23.71 per cent in April 2025 from 24.23 per cent recorded in March 2025, according to the latest report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The 0.52 percentage point decline marks a modest relief in the country’s ongoing battle with inflation and is the first major indicator released under the recently rebased CPI, which now uses 2024 as the new base year, with 2023 as the reference period for expenditure weights.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation slowed significantly to 1.86 per cent in April from 3.90 per cent in March — a 2.04 percentage point drop that suggests a deceleration in the pace of price increases, especially in key sectors.
The easing headline inflation was driven largely by a reduction in food prices. The food inflation rate stood at 21.26 per cent year-on-year in April, supported by a modest month-on-month deceleration to 2.06 per cent, down from 2.18 per cent in March. This was attributed to price drops in staple items including maize flour, wheat grain, dried okro, yam flour, soya beans, rice, and various types of beans.
This moderation in food inflation, a major component of the CPI, comes as a welcome development in a country where food accounts for the largest share of household expenditures.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy, also declined to 23.39 per cent year-on-year in April. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation slowed sharply to 1.34 per cent, from 3.73 per cent in March.
The NBS also reported new sub-indices under the rebased CPI, providing deeper insights into inflationary pressures, NBS said farm produce, 2.64 per cent; energy: 9.21 per cent; services: 3.44 per cent and goods: 3.89 per cent.
Urban areas experienced a year-on-year inflation rate of 24.29 per cent in April, while rural inflation was slightly lower at 22.83 per cent. However, the monthly trends diverged significantly: urban inflation slowed to 1.18 per cent in April from 3.96 per cent in March — a substantial 2.78 percentage point decline — while rural inflation dipped only slightly to 3.56 per cent from 3.73 per cent in the same period.
Inflation pressures remained uneven across Nigeria’s states. On a year-on-year basis, the highest increases in headline inflation were recorded in Enugu: 35.98%,
Kebbi: 35.13% and Niger: 34.85%.
Conversely, the slowest increases were observed in Ondo: 13.43%, Cross River: 17.11% and Kwara: 17.28%
Month-on-month, Sokoto (16.26%), Nasarawa (16.02%), and Niger (14.74%) reported the steepest price surges, while Oyo (-6.45%), Osun (-4.54%), and Ondo (-3.44%) experienced month-on-month declines in inflation.
The highest year-on-year food inflation rates were recorded in Benue: 51.76%,
Ekiti: 34.05% and Kebbi: 33.82% respectively.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation skyrocketed in Benue (25.59%), Ekiti (16.73%), and Yobe (13.92%), but fell sharply in Ebonyi (-14.43%), Kano (-11.37%), and Ogun (-7.06%).
