By Ayomide Otitoju
Nigeria’s inflation rate moderated to 14.45% in November 2025, down from 16.05% in October, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. The month-on-month decline of 1.6 percentage points follows years of surging prices that fueled a nationwide cost-of-living crisis.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 130.5 in November from 128.9 in October, while food inflation slowed to 11.08% year-on-year, compared with 13.12% the previous month.
On a 12-month average, CPI increased by 20.41%, marking a sharp slowdown from 32.77% in November 2024. Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributors to headline inflation, accounting for 5.78 percentage points, followed by restaurants and accommodation services (1.87 points) and transport (1.54 points). Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels contributed 1.22 points, while education and health added 0.90 and 0.88 points, respectively.
Geographically, urban inflation fell to 13.61% year-on-year in November, a decline of 23.49 percentage points from the same period in 2024, while rural inflation was higher at 15.15% but still significantly lower than the 32.27% recorded in November 2024. Month-on-month, rural inflation accelerated to 1.88%, reflecting stronger price pressures outside urban centers.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, stood at 18.04% year-on-year, down from 28.75% in November 2024. On a monthly basis, it eased slightly to 1.28% from 1.42% in October.
Despite the slowdown, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) maintains that inflation remains too high. Governor Olayemi Cardoso said last month that headline inflation requires sustained efforts to moderate further. The bank left its Monetary Policy Rate at 27% and adjusted the corridor on its Standing Facility to encourage lending and reduce excess deposits with the central bank.
The easing of inflation for the seventh consecutive month reflects ongoing adjustments following the NBS’s revision of the CPI base year and price basket weights, alongside gradual stabilization in food and energy prices.
