Inflation Rises to 15.15% in December 2025
…NBS Unveils New CPI Rebasing
By Patience Ikpeme
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 15.15 per cent in December 2025, up from 14.45 per cent recorded in November 2025, according to the latest inflation data released on Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The Bureau explained that the December inflation figure was computed using a newly adopted rebasing framework, which introduced a new CPI base year of 2024 and a weight reference period of 2023. The rebasing exercise, the NBS said, was aimed at better reflecting current consumption patterns and price dynamics across the economy.
Providing clarity on the methodology used, the NBS stated that the sub-indexes were derived through the maximisation of the index reference period. According to the Bureau, this involved “using a 12-month index reference period where the average CPI for the 12 months of 2024 is equated to 100.” It added that “this is not the same as the single-month index reference period, in which December 2024 was set to 100.”
Data from the report showed that the CPI rose to 131.2 points in December 2025, representing a 0.7-point increase compared with the preceding month. The NBS said the movement in the headline inflation index was largely driven by food and non-alcoholic beverages, which remained the biggest contributors to overall price changes.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at 0.54 per cent in December 2025, representing a slowdown of 0.68 percentage points from the 1.22 per cent recorded in November 2025. Within the same period, food inflation stood at 10.84 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
Further analysis showed that food inflation declined on a month-on-month basis, recording -0.36 per cent in December 2025, compared with 1.13 per cent in November 2025, indicating a drop of 1.49 percentage points. The NBS attributed this decline to reductions in the average prices of key food items, including tomatoes, garri, eggs, potatoes, carrots, millet, vegetables, plantain, beans, wheat grain, ground pepper and fresh onions, among others.
Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 18.63 per cent on a year-on-year basis in December 2025. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation was recorded at 0.58 per cent, down by 0.7 percentage points from the 1.28 per cent posted in November 2025, suggesting a moderation in underlying price pressures.
The report also showed significant variations in inflation rates across states. On a year-on-year basis, all-items inflation was highest in Abia at 19.03 per cent, followed by Ogun at 18.80 per cent and Katsina at 18.66 per cent. In contrast, Sokoto recorded the lowest year-on-year increase at 8.61 per cent, while Plateau and Kaduna posted 9.05 per cent and 10.38 per cent respectively.
On a month-on-month basis, December 2025 saw the highest increases in headline inflation in Cross River at 3.11 per cent, Abia at 2.63 per cent and Delta at 2.53 per cent. However, inflation declined in Ondo by 3.74 per cent, Gombe by 3.02 per cent and Jigawa by 1.96 per cent within the same period.
State-level data on food inflation showed that on a year-on-year basis, Yobe recorded the highest rate at 15.25 per cent, followed by Ogun at 14.12 per cent and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, at 13.24 per cent. The slowest increases were recorded in Akwa Ibom at 4.34 per cent, Sokoto at 4.62 per cent and Plateau at 6.19 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation rose most sharply in Imo at 3.19 per cent, Nasarawa at 3.16 per cent and Yobe at 1.18 per cent. Conversely, Plateau recorded a decline of 2.76 per cent, Rivers fell by 2.50 per cent, while Zamfara posted a 1.93 per cent decrease.
The NBS said the latest inflation data reflects both the impact of the new CPI rebasing and evolving price movements across food, core items and regional markets, providing a revised statistical framework for tracking inflation trends in the Nigerian economy.
