Nigeria’s inflation rate continued its downward trend in May 2025, reflecting moderation across key components, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reflected.
According to the latest report by the statistics agency released on Monday, the Headline inflation dropped to 22.97% in May this year, representing a decline of 0.74% from the 23.71% rate recorded in the preceding month.
The Bureau reported that at the divisional level, the three major contributors to the headline inflation in May this year were Food and non-alcoholic Beverages: 9.20%, Restaurants & Accommodation Services: 2.97%, and Transport: 2.45%; while the least contributors were Recreation, Sport, and Culture: 0.07%, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics: 0.09%, and Insurance and Financial Services: 0.11.
The CPI report showed that on month-on-month (M-o-M) basis, the inflation rate in May 2025 was 1.53%, which was 0.33% lower than the 1.86% rate recorded in April 2025.
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On Food Inflation rate, the CPI data showed that in the month under review, the rate stood at 21.14% on a year-on-year basis in May 2025 while on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate was 2.19%, representing an increase of 0.13% compared to 2.06% rate recorded in April this year.
The Bureau attributed the M-o-M increase in food inflation rate to average prices of items such as Yam, Avenger (Ogbono/Apon), Cassava Tuber, Maize Flour, Fresh Pepper, Sweet Potatoes, etc.
The report also indicated that the Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 22.28% in May 2025 on a year-on-year basis but that on a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 1.10%, down 0.24 percentage points from 1.34% rate recorded in the preceding month of this year.
The Bureau reported that the inflation rate of the newly introduced sub-indices for May 2025 showed that both Farm Produce and Goods stood at 22.38% and 9.39% compared to April 2025, which were 0.95% and 1.89% respectively.
Conversely, it disclosed that Services and Energy stood at 1.79% and -0.43% compared to 2.20% and 13.6% recorded in the previous month, respectively.
A further analysis of the Urban and Rural Inflation Rates in May indicated that on a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate in May 2025 was 23.14% but on a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.40% in May 2025, up by 0.22% compared to 1.18% rate in April this year.
In addition, the report revealed that the rural inflation rate in May 2025 was 22.70% on a year-on-year basis, and that on a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in May 2025 was 1.83%, down by 1.72% compared to 3.56% rate in the preceding month.
On State-Level analyses, the Bureau informed the public that the State CPI for April 2025 for some states had been revised due to updated information, adding that the change affected all states except Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, and the FCT but did not affect the National CPI for April 2025.
The CPI report showed that the All Items index for May 2025, on a year-on-year basis, was highest in Borno (38.93%), Niger (34.97%), and Plateau (32.35%), while it recorded the lowest in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis in Katsina (16.25%), Adamawa (18.20%), Delta (18.41%).
It stated that on a month-on-month basis, the All Items index in the month under review recorded the highest increases in Bayelsa (9.11%), Bauchi (4.85%), and Borno (4.42%), while it recorded declines in Kaduna (-6.75%), Jigawa (-4.40%), and Edo (-2.94%).
The NBS further clarified that state-level analyses of the food index in May 2025 showed that food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Borno (64.36%), Bayelsa (39.85%), Taraba (38.58%); while it recorded the slowest rise in Katsina (6.90%), Rivers (9.18%), and Kwara (11.31%). On a month-on-month basis, in May 2025 food inflation was highest in Bayelsa (12.68%), Cross River (11.15%), and Anambra (9.10%); while states like Katsina (-5.42%), Jigawa (-4.02%) and Kaduna (-3.27%) recorded declines in food inflation on a month-on-month basis.
The report showed that on a month-on-month basis, May 2025 was 2.19%, up by 0.12% compared to April 2025 (2.06%).
