By Our Reporter
Nigeria’s inflation rate has eased to 18.02% in September 2025, down from 20.12% recorded in August, according to the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The bureau, in its monthly inflation report, said the headline inflation rate dropped by 2.1 percentage points compared to the previous month. On a year-on-year basis, inflation also declined by 14.68 percentage points from 32.70% recorded in September 2024.
According to the report, food inflation also slowed sharply in September. Month-on-month, the food inflation rate stood at -1.57%, a 3.22% drop compared to 1.65% recorded in August.
The NBS attributed the decline to lower average prices of key food items such as maize, garri, beans, millet, potatoes, onions, eggs, tomatoes, and fresh pepper.
The report further revealed that the average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending September 2025 was 24.06%, representing a 13.47 percentage point decrease compared to 37.53% in the same period last year.
Year-on-year, food inflation was 16.87% in September 2025, significantly lower than 37.77% in September 2024. The agency explained that the sharp drop in the annual food inflation figure was partly due to a change in the base year used for computation.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation rose slightly by 0.72%, compared to 0.74% in August — indicating that while prices are still rising, they are doing so at a slower pace.
“The rate of increase in the average price level was lower in September than in August,” the NBS noted.
Economists say the easing inflation offers some relief for households and businesses, though the cost-of-living crisis remains a major concern for millions of Nigerians.