NBS: Nigeria’s inflation drops to 16.05% in October 2025

Nigeria’s inflation trajectory showed a notable improvement in October 2025, with the headline inflation rate easing to 16.05%, down from 18.02% recorded in September 2025.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which released the latest figures on Monday, noted that the year-on-year headline inflation stood at 17.82%, lower than 33.88% in October 2024.

According to the Bureau, this indicates that headline inflation decreased compared to the same month last year, though based on a different base year (November 2009).

“The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 128.9 in October 2025, reflecting a 1.2-point increase from the preceding month (127.7).

“In October 2025, the Headline inflation rate eased to 16.05% relative to the September 2025 headline inflation rate of 18.02%. Looking at the movement, the October 2025 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.96% compared to the September 2025 Headline inflation rate.

“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 17.82% lower than the rate recorded in October 2024 (33.88%). This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in October 2025 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., October 2024), though with a different base year, November 2009 = 100.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in October 2025 was 0.93%, which was 0.21% higher than the rate recorded in September 2025 (0.72%). This means that in October 2025, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in September 2025,” the Bureau said.

Rural vs Urban Inflation

According to the NBS, the urban inflation rate in October 2025 stood at 15.65%, representing a 20.73 percentage-point decline from the 36.38% recorded in October 2024. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation rose to 1.14% in October 2025, up from 0.74% in September 2025.

The Bureau added that the twelve-month average urban inflation rate was 22.68% in October 2025, 11.84 percentage points lower than the 34.52% reported in October 2024.

For rural inflation, the NBS reported a year-on-year rate of 15.86% in October 2025—15.73 percentage points lower than the 31.59% recorded in October 2024. Month-on-month, rural inflation moderated to 0.45%, down from 0.67% in September 2025. The twelve-month average rural inflation rate stood at 20.81% in October 2025, down from 30.24% in October 2024.

Food Inflation

The food inflation rate in October 2025 stood at 13.12% year-on-year, representing a 26.04 percentage-point decline from 39.16% in October 2024. The NBS noted that the significant drop in the annual food inflation figure is largely due to the change in the base year.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation printed at -0.37% in October 2025, up by 1.21% compared to -1.57% in September 2025. According to the NBS, the upward movement in the monthly figure was driven by increases in the average prices of several food items, including fresh onions, oranges, pineapples, shrimp, unshelled groundnuts, vegetables such as ugu and okazi leaf, and various types of meat such as goat meat, cow tail, and liver.

“The Food inflation rate in October 2025 was 13.12% on a year-on-year basis. This was 26.04 percentage points lower compared to the rate recorded in October 2024 (39.16%). The significant decline in the annual food inflation figure is technically due to the change in the base year. However, on a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in October 2025 was -0.37%, up by 1.21% compared to September 2025 (-1.57%).

“The increase can be attributed to the rate of increase in the average prices of Onions (Fresh), Fruits (Oranges, Pineapple), Shrimp, Groundnuts (Unshelled), Vegetables (Ugu, Okazi leaf), and Meat (Goat meat, Cow tail, Liver), among others.

“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending October 2025 over the previous twelve-month average was 21.96%, which was 16.16 percentage points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in October 2024 (38.12%).

“The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending October 2025 was 21.96%, which is 16.16 percentage points lower than the 38.12% recorded in October 2024.”