WorldStage– Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased further to 18.02 per cent in September 2025, according to latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) .
The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for September 2025, which was released in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to the report, the headline inflation showed a decrease of 2.1 per cent compared to the 20.12 per cent recorded in August 2025.
The report said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 14.68 per cent lower than the rate recorded in September 2024 at 32.70 per cent.
Furthermore, the report said ‘on a month-on-month’, the headline inflation rate in September 2025 was 0.72 per cent, which was 0.02 per cent lower than the rate recorded in August 2025 at 0.74 per cent.
“ This means that in September 2025, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2025.”
The report said the increase in the headline index for September 2025 was attributed to the increase in some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level.
It said the three major contributors to the headline inflation year on year were Food and non-alcoholic Beverages at 7.21 per cent, Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 2.33per cent, and Transport at 1.92 per cent.
The report showed the least contributors were Recreation, Sport, and Culture at 0.06 per cent, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics at 0.07 per cent, and Insurance and Financial Services at 0.08 per cent.
The report said the food inflation rate in September 2025 was 16.87 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 20.9 percentage points lower compared to the rate recorded in September 2024 at 37.77 per cent.
“The significant decline in the annual food inflation figure is technically due to the change in the base year.”
It said on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in September was -1.57 per cent, which decreased by 3.22 per cent compared to the 1.65 per cent recorded in August 2025.
The NBS said the decrease in food inflation was attributed to the reduction in average prices of items such Maize(Corn), Grains, Garri, Beans, Millet, Potatoes, Onions, Eggs, Tomatoes, Fresh Pepper, etc.
The report said that “all items less farm produce and energy’’ or core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 19.53 per cent in September 2025, on a year-on-year basis.
“On a month-on-month basis, the Core Inflation rate was 1.42 per cent in September, which decreased by 0.01 per cent compared to the 1.43 per cent recorded in August 2025.”
The report said that on a year-on-year basis in September 2025, the urban inflation rate was 17.50 per cent, which was 17.63 per cent points lower than 35.13 per cent in September 2024.
“On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 0.74 per cent, which increased by 0.25 per cent compared to August at 0.49 per cent.”
The report said that in September, the rural inflation rate was 18.26 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 12.23 per cent points lower than the 30.49 per cent in September 2024.
“On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 0.67 per cent, which decreased by 0.71 per cent compared to August at 1.38 per cent.”
On states’ profile analysis, the report showed that in September, the all-items index inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Adamawa at 23.69 per cent, followed by Katsina at 23.53 per cent and Nasarawa at 22.29 per cent.
It said the slowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Anambra at 9.28 per cent, followed by Niger at 11.79 per cent, and Bauchi at 12.36 per cent.
The report, however, said that in September 2025, the inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was highest in Zamfara at 9.36 per cent, followed by Adamawa at 18.15 per cent, and Nasarawa at 7.49 per cent.
“Niger -8.14 per cent, followed by Oyo at -5.56 per cent and Bayelsa at -4.61 per cent recorded the slowest rise in month-on-month inflation.”
The report said on a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Ekiti at 28.68 per cent, followed by Rivers at 24.18 per cent, and Nasarawa at 22.74 per cent.
Bauchi at 2.81 per cent, followed by Niger at 8.38 per cent and Anambra 8.41 per cent recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.’’
The report, however, said on a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Zamfara at 15.62 per cent, followed by Ekiti 12.77 per cent, and Sokoto at 12.55 per cent.
“Akwa Ibom at -12.97 per cent, followed by Borno at -22.95 per cent and Cross River at -10.36 per cent, recorded the slowest rise in inflation on a month-on-month basis.”
The NBS said that based on the recent rebasing of the CPI, it rose to 127.7 in September 2025, which reflected a 0.9 point increase from the 126.8 recorded in August 2025.
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
