Nigeria’s headline inflation in May 2025, eased to 22.97 per cent relative to the April 2025 headline inflation rate of 23.71 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics in its new consumer prices index (CPI) report released on Monday.
The report also shows that Food inflation rate in May 2025 also dropped to 21.14 per cent on a year-on-year basis from 21.26 per cent in April 2025.
According to the report, the headline inflation rate for May 2025 decreased to 22.97 per cent compared to the April 2025 rate of 23.71 per cent. This represents a decline of 0.74 per cent from April 2025.
At the divisional level, the three major contributors to the headline inflation were Food and non-alcoholic Beverages: 9.20 per cent, Restaurants & Accommodation Services: 2.97 per cent, and Transport: 2.45 per cent; while the least contributors were Recreation, Sport, and Culture: 0.07 per cent, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics: 0.09 per cent, and Insurance and Financial Services: 0.11 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in May 2025 was 1.53 per cent, which was 0.33 per cent lower than the rate recorded in April 2025 (1.86 per cent).
The report shows that food inflation rate in May 2025, was 21.14 per cent on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in May 2025 was 2.19 per cent, which rose by 0.13 per cent compared to April 2025 (2.06 per cent).
The increase can be attributed to the rate of increase in average prices of items such as Yam, Avenger (Ogbono/Apon), Cassava Tuber, Maize Flour, Fresh Pepper, Sweet Potatoes, etc.
Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 22.28 per cent in May 2025 on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 1.10 per cent in May 2025, down 0.24 percentage points from April 2025 (1.34 per cent).
The inflation rate of the newly introduced sub-indices for May 2025 shows that both Farm Produce and Goods stood at 22.38 per cent and 9.39 per cent compared to April 2025, which were 0.95 per cent and 1.89 per cent respectively. Conversely, Services and Energy stood at 1.79 per cent and -0.43 per cent compared to 2.20 per cent and 13.6 per cent recorded in the previous month, respectively.
According to the report, on a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate in May 2025 was 23.14 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.40 per cent in May 2025, up by 0.22 per cent compared to April 2025 (1.18 per cent).
The rural inflation rate in May 2025 was 22.70 per cent on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in May 2025 was 1.83 per cent, down by 1.72 per cent compared to April 2025 (3.56 per cent).
The all-item index for May 2025, on a year-on-year basis, was highest in Borno (38.93 per cent), Niger (34.97 per cent), and Plateau (32.35 per cent), while it recorded the lowest in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis in Katsina (16.25 per cent), Adamawa (18.20 per cent), Delta (18.41 per cent). On a month-on-month basis, May 2025 recorded the highest increases in Bayelsa (9.11 per cent), Bauchi (4.85 per cent), and Borno (4.42 per cent), while it recorded declines in Kaduna (-6.75 per cent), Jigawa (-4.40 per cent), and Edo (-2.94 per cent).
State-level analyses of the food index in May 2025 show that food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Borno (64.36 per cent), Bayelsa (39.85 per cent), Taraba (38.58 per cent); while it recorded the slowest rise in Katsina (6.90 per cent), Rivers (9.18 per cent), and Kwara (11.31 per cent). On a month-on-month basis, in May 2025 food inflation was highest in Bayelsa (12.68 per cent), Cross River (11.15 per cent), and Anambra (9.10 per cent); while states like Katsina (-5.42 per cent), Jigawa (-4.02 per cent) and Kaduna (-3.27 per cent) recorded declines in food inflation on a month-on-month basis.