Nigeria’s Inflation Drops to 23.18% in February, Says NBS

• Mar 18, 2025

Nigeria’s inflation rate eased to 23.18% in February 2025, a decline from the 24.48% recorded in January, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The bureau released its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for February in Abuja on Monday, showing a decrease of 1.30 percentage points in headline inflation.

On a year-on-year basis, the inflation rate was 8.52 percentage points lower than the 31.70% recorded in February 2024. The report noted that the decrease was partly due to the recently rebased CPI, which updated Nigeria’s economic indicators to reflect current trends. The base year for calculations was moved from 2009 to 2024.

However, on a month-on-month basis, inflation stood at 2.04% in February 2025. The rise in inflation over the month was attributed to price increases in several categories, including food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport, housing, electricity, water, gas, education, healthcare, and clothing. Other sectors affected included communication, personal care, insurance, recreation, and household equipment.

The report highlighted a decline in food inflation, which fell to 23.51% year-on-year in February 2025, down from 37.92% in February 2024. This significant drop was largely due to the CPI rebasing. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was 1.67%, influenced by lower average prices of items like yams, potatoes, soybeans, maize flour, cassava, and Bambara beans.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile items like food and energy, stood at 23.01% in February 2025, a decrease from the 25.13% recorded in February 2024. Month-on-month, core inflation was 2.52%. Meanwhile, farm produce inflation was 1.77%, energy inflation stood at -0.99%, and services inflation was 3.38% on a month-on-month basis.

Urban inflation was recorded at 25.15% year-on-year in February 2025, down from 33.66% in February 2024. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation was 2.40%. In rural areas, inflation stood at 19.89% year-on-year, a decrease from 29.99% in February 2024, while month-on-month rural inflation was 1.16%.

Among states, Edo had the highest year-on-year inflation rate at 33.59%, followed by Enugu (30.72%) and Sokoto (30.19%). The lowest inflation rates were recorded in Katsina (15.45%), Akwa Ibom (15.53%), and Plateau (15.74%). On a month-on-month basis, Sokoto (11.98%), Kogi (11.38%), and Edo (8.87%) saw the highest inflation increases, while Kaduna (-8.83%), Ondo (-4.78%), and Plateau (-3.37%) recorded the slowest rises.

For food inflation, Sokoto had the highest year-on-year rate at 38.34%, followed by Edo (35.08%) and Nasarawa (33.53%). The lowest rates were recorded in Adamawa (12.18%), Ondo (13.66%), and Oyo (15.53%). On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Sokoto (18.83%), Nasarawa (15.32%), and Kogi (11.65%), while Ondo (-9.81%), Kaduna (-8.91%), and Oyo (-6.42%) recorded the slowest increases.

The NBS recently rebased the CPI to ensure economic indicators better reflect Nigeria’s economy. Statistician-General Adeyemi Adeniran explained that the process involved updating the base year from 2009 to 2024, incorporating emerging sectors, and refining data collection methods.