Abuja: Nigeria's headline inflation rate eased to 22.97 percent in May 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This development marks a decrease of 0.74 percent compared to the 23.71 percent recorded in April 2025, as revealed in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report released by the NBS in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the report indicates that the month-on-month headline inflation rate in May 2025 was 1.53 percent, which is 0.33 percent lower than the rate recorded in April 2025 at 1.86 percent. The increase in the headline index for May 2025 was attributed to the rise in prices of certain items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level. The major contributors to the headline inflation were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages at 9.20 percent, Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 2.97 percent, and Transport at 2.45 percent.
The report highlighted that the least contributors to headline inflation were Recreation, Sport, and Culture at 0.07 percent, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics at 0.09 percent, and Insurance and Financial Services at 0.11 percent. The food inflation rate in May 2025 was 21.14 percent on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in May was 2.19 percent, showing an increase of 0.13 percent compared to April 2025. The increase in food inflation was attributed to the reduction in average prices of items such as Yam, Ogbono, Cassava Tuber, Maize Flour, Fresh Pepper, and Sweet Potatoes.
The report also stated that core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 22.28 percent in May 2025 on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the Core Inflation rate was 1.10 percent in May, which is a decrease of 0.24 percentage points compared to the 1.34 percent recorded in April 2025.
For the newly introduced sub-indices, on a month-on-month basis, Farm Produce and Goods stood at 22.38 percent and 9.39 percent compared to April 2025, which were 0.95 percent and 1.89 percent, respectively. Conversely, Services and Energy stood at 1.79 percent and -0.43 percent compared to 2.20 percent and 13.6 percent recorded in April, respectively.
On a year-on-year basis in May 2025, the urban inflation rate was 23.14 percent. On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.40 in May 2025, which increased by 0.22 percent compared to April at 1.18 percent. In May, the rural inflation rate was 22.70 percent on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 1.83 percent in May, which decreased by 1.72 percent compared to April at 3.56 percent.
Regarding states' profile analysis, the report showed the highest year-on-year inflation rate in May was in Borno at 38.93 percent, followed by Niger at 34.97 percent and Plateau at 32.35 percent. The slowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Katsina at 16.25 percent, followed by Adamawa at 18.20 percent, and Delta at 18.41 percent. On a month-on-month basis, inflation was highest in Bayelsa at 9.11 percent, followed by Bauchi at 4.85 percent, and Borno at 4.42 percent. Kaduna at -6.75 percent, followed by Jigawa at -4.40 percent and Edo at -2.94 percent recorded the slowest rise in month-on-month inflation.
On a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Borno at 64.34 percent, followed by Bayelsa at 39.85 percent, and Taraba at 38.58 percent. Katsina at 6.90 percent, followed by Rivers at 9.18 percent and Kwara at 11.31 percent recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Bayelsa at 12.68 percent, followed by Cross River at 11.15 percent, and Anambra at 9.10 percent. Katsina at -5.42 percent, followed by Jigawa at -4.02 percent and Kaduna at -3.27 percent, recorded the slowest rise in inflation on a month-on-month basis.
Based on the recent rebasing of the CPI, the CPI rose to 121.35 in May 2025, reflecting a 1.83-point increase from April 2025. The NBS recently rebased the CPI, bringing the base year closer to the current period, from 2009 to 2024, with 2023 as the reference period for expenditure weights. The Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran, stated that the rebasing was designed to ensure that Nigeria's economic indicators accurately reflect the current structure of the economy by incorporating new and emerging sectors, updating consumption baskets, and refining data collection methods.