The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 23.71 per cent in April 2025.
The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for April 2025, which was released in Abuja on Thursday.
According to the report, the headline inflation showed a decrease of 0.52 per cent compared to the 24.23 per cent recorded in March 2025.
Furthermore, the report said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in April 2025 was 1.86 per cent, which was 2.04 per cent lower than the rate recorded in March 2025 at 3.90 per cent.
The report said the increase in the headline index for April 2025 was attributed to the increase in some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level.
It said the three major contributors to the headline inflation were Food and non-alcoholic Beverages at 9.49 per cent, Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 3.06 per cent, and Transport at 2.53 per cent.
The report showed the least contributors were Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics at 0.09 per cent, Recreation, Sport, and Culture at 0.07 per cent.
The report said the food inflation rate in April 2025 was 21.26 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
It said on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in April was 2.06 per cent, which decreased by 0.12 per cent compared to the 2.18 per cent recorded in March 2025.
The NBS said the decrease in food inflation was attributed to the reduction in average prices of items such as Maize (Corn) Flour, Wheat Grain, Okro Dried, Yam Flour, Soya Beans, Rice, Bambara beans, Brown Beans etc.
The report said that “all items less farm produce and energy’’ or core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 23.39 per cent in April 2025 on a year-on-year basis.
“While on a month-on-month basis, the Core Inflation rate was 1.34 per cent in April, which decreased by 2.39 per cent compared to the 3.73 per cent recorded in March 2025 .”
The NBS said for the newly introduced indices, on a month-on-month basis Farm Produce rate remained at 2.64 per cent in April, the same figure recorded in March.
Also, the Energy rate remained at 9.21 per cent in April on a month-on-month basis, as well as Services at 3.44 per cent and Goods at 3.98 per cent.
The report said that on a year-on-year basis in April 2025, the urban inflation rate was 24.29 per cent.
“On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.18 in April 2025, which decreased by 2.78 per cent compared to March at 3.96 per cent.
The report said in April, the rural inflation rate was 22.83 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
“On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 3.56 per cent in April, which decreased by 0.17 per cent compared to March at 3.73 per cent.”
On states’ profile analysis, the report showed that in April, all items’ inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Enugu at 35.98 per cent, followed by Kebbi at 35.13 per cent and Niger at 34.85 per cent.
It said the slowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Ondo at 13.43 per cent, followed by Cross River at 17.11 per cent, and Kwara at 17.28 per cent.
The report, however, said in April 2025, all items inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was highest in Sokoto 16.26 per cent, followed by Nasarawa at 16.02 per cent, and Niger at 14.74 per cent.
“Oyo at -6.45 per cent, followed by Osun at -4.54 per cent and Ondo at -3.44 per cent recorded the slowest rise in month-on-month inflation.”
The report said on a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Benue at 51.76 per cent, followed by Ekiti at 34.05 per cent, and Kebbi at 33.82 per cent.
“Ebonyi at 7.19 per cent, followed by Adamawa at 9.52 per cent and Ogun at 9.91 per cent recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.’’
The report, however, said on a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Benue at 25.59 per cent, followed by Ekiti at 16.73 per cent, and Yobe at 13.92 per cent.
“Ebonyi at -14.43 per cent, followed by Kaho at -11.37 per cent and Ogun at -7.06 per cent, recorded the slowest rise in inflation on a month-on-month basis.”
Freedomonline recalls that the NBS recently rebased the CPI, bringing the base year closer to the current period, from 2009 to 2024, with 2023 as the reference period for expenditure weights.
The Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran, said the rebasing was designed to ensure that Nigeria’s economic indicators accurately reflect the current structure of the economy.
According to him, this is done by incorporating new and emerging sectors, updating consumption baskets, and refining data collection methods.
