Nigeria’s Inflation Continues Downward Trend, Hits 22.97% in May
By Patience Ikpeme
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate recorded a further decline in May 2025, reaching 22.97%. This figure represents a 0.74 percentage point decrease from the 23.71% recorded in April 2025, according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
On a year-on-year comparison, the May 2025 headline inflation rate was 10.98% lower than the 33.95% registered in May 2024. This indicates a reduced rate of average price increase compared to the same month in the preceding year.
Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in May 2025 stood at 1.53%, a 0.33 percentage point reduction from the 1.86% reported in April 2025. This means that the pace of average price increases in May 2025 was slower than that in April 2025.
Food inflation for May 2025 was 21.14% on a year-on-year basis. However, on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate increased by 0.13 percentage points to 2.19% in May 2025, up from 2.06% in April 2025. The bureau attributed this rise in food inflation to price increases in items such as yam, avenger (Ogbono/Apon), cassava tuber, maize flour, fresh pepper, and sweet potatoes, among others. Similarly, core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, settled at 22.28% in May 2025 on a year-on-year basis. Month-on-month core inflation was 1.10% in May 2025, marking a 0.24 percentage point decrease from April 2025’s 1.34%.
Inflation rates varied across states. The NBS noted that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April 2025 had undergone revisions for some states due to updated information. This adjustment impacted all states except Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, and the FCT. For May 2025, Borno (38.93%), Niger (34.97%), and Plateau (32.35%) recorded the highest all-item index on a year-on-year basis, while Katsina (16.25%), Adamawa (18.20%), and Delta (18.41%) registered the lowest headline inflation rates. On a month-on-month basis for May 2025, Bayelsa (9.11%), Bauchi (4.85%), and Borno (4.42%) saw the largest increases, while Kaduna (-6.75%), Jigawa (-4.40%), and Edo (-2.94%) experienced declines.
Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Borno (64.36%), Bayelsa (39.85%), and Taraba (38.58%). In contrast, Katsina (6.90%), Rivers (9.18%), and Kwara (11.31%) recorded the slowest rises. On a month-on-month basis in May 2025, food inflation was highest in Bayelsa (12.68%), Cross River (11.15%), and Anambra (9.10%). Conversely, states such as Katsina (-5.42%), Jigawa (-4.02%), and Kaduna (-3.27%) experienced month-on-month declines in food inflation.
