By Ayomide Otitoju
Nigeria’s headline inflation eased to 16.05 per cent in October 2025 from 18.02 per cent in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed. The decline of 1.96 percentage points marks the seventh consecutive month of falling inflation since April 2025.
Year-on-year, the October 2025 headline inflation rate was 17.82 percentage points lower than the 33.88 per cent recorded in October 2024. On a month-on-month basis, the rate rose slightly to 0.9 per cent in October from 0.72 per cent in September.
Food inflation, a key component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), stood at 13.12 per cent year-on-year in October 2025, down sharply from 39.16 per cent in the same month last year. The NBS attributed the large decline to changes in the base year. Month-on-month, however, food prices rose by 0.37 per cent, compared with a decline of 1.57 per cent in September, driven by price increases in onions, fruits (oranges, pineapple), shrimp, groundnuts, vegetables (ugu, okazi), and meats including goat, cow tail, and liver. The average annual food inflation for the 12 months ending October 2025 was 21.96 per cent, 16.16 percentage points lower than the previous year.
Urban inflation was 15.65 per cent year-on-year in October 2025, down from 36.38 per cent in October 2024, while the month-on-month rate rose to 1.14 per cent from 0.74 per cent in September. The 12-month average for urban inflation was 22.68 per cent, a 11.84-point drop from October 2024.
Rural inflation in October 2025 was 15.86 per cent year-on-year, down from 31.59 per cent in October 2024. Month-on-month, rural inflation fell to 0.45 per cent from 0.67 per cent in September, with a 12-month average of 20.81 per cent, 9.42 points lower than the same period last year.
The NBS data underscores a continued moderation in Nigeria’s inflationary pressures, reflecting gradual easing in both urban and rural price levels.
