Abuja: Nigeria’s headline inflation rate experienced a further decline, easing to 18.02 percent in September 2025. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for September 2025, released in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the report highlights a significant reduction in the inflation rate, showing a decrease of 2.1 percent compared to the 20.12 percent recorded in August 2025. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 14.68 percent lower than the 32.70 percent recorded in September 2024.
The report also notes that on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in September 2025 was 0.72 percent, a slight decrease from the 0.74 percent recorded in August 2025. This suggests that the rate of increase in average price levels was lower in September than in the previous month.
The increase in the headline index for September 2025 was driven by a rise in prices of certain items within the basket of goods and services at the divisional level. The three major contributors to the year-on-year headline inflation were Food and non-alcoholic Beverages at 7.21 percent, Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 2.33 percent, and Transport at 1.92 percent.
Conversely, the least contributors were Recreation, Sport, and Culture at 0.06 percent, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics at 0.07 percent, and Insurance and Financial Services at 0.08 percent. The annual food inflation rate stood at 16.87 percent, marking a significant decline of 20.9 percentage points compared to September 2024, primarily due to a change in the base year.
Month-on-month, the food inflation rate in September was -1.57 percent, a decrease of 3.22 percent from the 1.65 percent recorded in August 2025. This drop was attributed to reduced average prices of items such as maize, grains, garri, beans, and other staples.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, was reported at 19.53 percent on a year-on-year basis in September 2025. The month-on-month core inflation rate was 1.42 percent, slightly down from 1.43 percent in August 2025.
Urban inflation rates showed a year-on-year figure of 17.50 percent, a decline from 35.13 percent in September 2024. Month-on-month, the urban inflation rate increased to 0.74 percent from 0.49 percent in August. Rural inflation was recorded at 18.26 percent year-on-year, down from 30.49 percent in September 2024, with a month-on-month rate of 0.67 percent, a decrease from 1.38 percent in August.
State-wise analysis showed the highest year-on-year inflation rates in Adamawa at 23.69 percent, followed by Katsina and Nasarawa. Anambra recorded the slowest rise at 9.28 percent. On a month-on-month basis, Zamfara led with 9.36 percent, while Niger recorded the slowest rise at -8.14 percent.
Food inflation was highest in Ekiti at 28.68 percent year-on-year, with Bauchi recording the slowest rise. Month-on-month, Zamfara had the highest food inflation, while Akwa Ibom saw the slowest rise.
The recent rebasing of the CPI reflected an increase to 127.7 in September 2025, up from 126.8 in August.
