Inflation falls to 16% as Nigeria records seventh straight month of decline – NBS

Nigeria’s inflation rate has continued its steady downward slide, dropping to 16.05 percent in October 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday.

The figure marks a dramatic year-on-year decline of 17.82 percentage points from the 33.88 percent recorded in October 2024, underscoring what the bureau described as a sustained easing of price pressures across the economy.

However, on a month-to-month basis, inflation inched up. The report shows that headline inflation rose by 0.93 percent in October, compared with 0.72 percent in September, indicating that prices increased at a slightly faster pace than the previous month.

Food Inflation Declines Sharply Year-on-Year

Food inflation, a key driver of household hardship, also recorded a major fall, dropping to 13.12 percent year-on-year from 39.16 percent in October 2024.

But the NBS noted that food prices rose marginally between September and October, with month-on-month food inflation moving from -1.57 percent to -0.37 percent. The uptick was linked to rising prices of onions, fruits, shrimp, groundnuts, vegetables such as ugu and okazi leaves, and meat products including goat meat and cow tail.

The average annual food inflation rate for the 12 months ending October 2025 stood at 21.96 percent, significantly lower than the 38.12 percent recorded the previous year.

States With Highest and Lowest Food Inflation

The report also highlighted disparities across states:

Highest year-on-year food inflation: Ogun (20.85%), Nasarawa (19.96%), Ekiti (19.70%)

Lowest: Akwa Ibom (3.98%), Katsina (4.15%), Yobe (4.29%)

On a month-on-month basis, Bauchi (6.77%), Abuja (5.11%), and Niger (4.84%) recorded the highest increases.

Monetary Policy Shift After Months of Slowdown

October marks the seventh consecutive month of easing inflation, a trend that informed the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) decision in September to cut the benchmark interest rate to 27 percent, its first rate reduction in five years.