According to the most recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s headline inflation rate decreased for the first time in months, from 24.23% in March 2025 to 23.71% in April 2025.
The first significant indicator released under the recently rebased Consumer Price Index (CPI), which now uses 2024 as the new base year with 2023 as the reference period for expenditure weights, was the 0.52 percentage point decline, which represents a slight respite in the nation’s ongoing fight against inflation.
Headline inflation decreased by 2.04 percentage points from 3.90% in March to 1.86% in April, indicating a slowdown in the rate of price rises, particularly in important industries.
The easing headline inflation was driven largely by a reduction in food prices. The food inflation rate stood at 21.26% year-on-year in April, supported by a modest month-on-month deceleration to 2.06%, down from 2.18% 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% year-on-year in April. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation slowed sharply to 1.34%, from 3.73% 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%; energy: 9.21%; services: 3.44% and goods: 3.89%.
Urban areas experienced a year-on-year inflation rate of 24.29% in April, while rural inflation was slightly lower at 22.83%. However, the monthly trends diverged significantly: urban inflation slowed to 1.18% in April from 3.96% in March — a substantial 2.78 percentage point decline — while rural inflation dipped only slightly to 3.56% from 3.73% 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%
On the other hand, Ondo State saw the slowest gains, at 13.43%, Cross River at 17.11%, and Kwara State at 17.28%.
While Oyo State (-6.45%), Osun State (-4.54%), and Ondo State (-3.44%) saw month-over-month decreases in inflation, Sokoto State (16.26%), Nasarawa State (16.02%), and Niger State (14.74%) reported the sharpest price increases.
Benue State has the highest annual food inflation rates (51.76%), followed by Ekiti State (34.05%) and Kebbi State (33.82%).
In Benue State (25.59%), Ekiti State (16.73%), and Yobe State (13.92%), food inflation surged month over month, while it plummeted in Ebonyi State (-14.43%), Kano State (-11.37%), and Ogun State (-7.06%).
Source: allAfrica
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