- Nigeria’s inflation rate declined for the second consecutive month to 23.18 per cent in February 2025
- Households and businesses across Nigeria still grapple with persistent inflationary pressures
- TheRadar highlights five key features of the February inflation rate report, including persisting price pressures, heightened food inflation, and higher urban inflation
The recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 23.18 per cent in February 2025.
The decline marked a second consecutive monthly decline from the 24.48 per cent recorded in January following the rebasing of the CPI by the NBS.
The February inflation figure indicates a 1.30 per cent decrease from January and an 8.52 percentage points decline compared to the 31.70 per cent recorded in February 2024.
According to the NBS, the food inflation rate was 23.51 per cent in February 2025 on a year-on-year basis, lower than the 37.92 per cent recorded in February 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was 1.67 per cent.
The NBS report stated that food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest drivers of inflation, contributing 9.28 per cent to the headline inflation rate on a year-on-year basis.
Households and businesses across Nigeria still grapple with persistent inflationary pressures, which have resulted in the rising cost of goods and services.
Going by the reported decline in the inflation rate, TheRadar highlights some of the key features of the February 2025 inflation data, including persisting price pressures, and heightened food and core inflation rates.
5 takeaways from February 2025 inflation data
1. Persisting price pressures despite inflation decline
The NBS inflation data showed that Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped for the second consecutive month to 23.18 percent in February 2025, compared to 24.48 percent in January.
The decline is attributed to the rebasing of the CPI, which changed the base year for calculating the inflationary trend from 2009 to 2024.
Despite the reported decline in inflation, price pressures persisted as Nigerians still pay more for goods and services with no major relief in daily spending.
2. Food inflation increased month-on-month
The data also showed that food inflation, a major driver of rising living costs, increased to 23.51 per cent month-on-month in February 2025.
Though the February 2025 food inflation rate is significantly lower than the 37.92 percent recorded in February 2024, it was 1.67 per cent higher than what was recorded in January 2025.
“Compared to the month of January 2025, there was an observed decline in the average prices of food items like yam tubers, potatoes, soya beans, flour of maize/cornmeal, cassava, Bambara beans (dried), etc.
“The average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending February 2025 over the previous 12-month average was 34.74 per cent, which was 4.67 per cent points higher compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in February 2024 (30.07 per cent),” the report stated.
3. Food inflation was highest in Sokoto, Edo, and Nasarawa
The NBS data showed variations in the cost of food across states, reflecting the differences in economic activity, household spending patterns, and regional price pressures.
As analysed by the state, inflation was highest in February in Edo (33.59 per cent), Enugu (30.72 per cent), and Sokoto (30.19 per cent).
On the other hand, the slowest price increases in the month was recorded in Kaduna (15.45 per cent), Akwa Ibom (15.53 per cent), and Plateau (15.74 per cent).
The report noted that on a year-on-year basis, Sokoto recorded heightened food inflation with the highest rate of 38.34 per cent, while Adamawa recorded the lowest at 12.18 per cent.
It stated, “In February 2025, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Sokoto (38.34 per cent), Edo (35.08 per cent), Nasarawa (33.53 per cent), while Adamawa (12.18 per cent), Ondo (13.66 per cent), and Oyo (15.55 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.
“On a month-on-month basis, however, February 2025 food inflation was highest in Sokoto (18.83 per cent), Nasarawa (15.32 per cent), and Kogi (11.65 per cent) while Ondo (-9.81 per cent), Kaduna (-8.91 per cent), and Oyo (-6.42 per cent) recorded declines in food inflation on a month-on-month basis.”
4. Core inflation stood at 23.01 per cent
The report also stated that core inflation, which tracks consumer price changes, excluding volatile items like food and energy, stood at 23.01 per cent in February 2025.
The February 2025 core inflation rate is lower than the 25.13 per cent recorded in 2024 but increased by 2.52 per cent on a month-on-month basis.
Core inflation focuses on more stable prices, unlike headline inflation which covers all goods and services, making it a better measure of long-term inflation trends.
A core inflation rate of 23.01 per cent suggests that while headline inflation may be easing, the cost of essential services, such as healthcare, education, and transportation, remained high, putting pressure on household income.
The NBS stated, “The average 12-month annual inflation rate for core inflation was 25.33 per cent, which was 3.60 per cent points higher than the 21.72 per cent recorded in February 2024.”
5. Urban inflation was higher than rural inflation
According to the report, the urban inflation rate was 25.15 per cent in February 2025, while the rural inflation rate was 19.89 per cent.
The report stated that inflation in Nigeria’s urban areas declined from 33.66 per cent recorded in February 2024.
It said, “The corresponding 12-month average for the urban inflation rate was 32.22 per cent in February 2025, which was 4.28 per cent points higher than the 27.93 per cent reported in February 2024.
“The rural inflation rate in February 2025 was 19.89 per cent on a year-on-year basis. This was 10.09 per cent lower than the 29.99 per cent recorded in February 2024.”
Inflation: Economist forecasts deceleration as Nigerians remain sceptical about decline
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that following the decline in Nigeria’s inflation rate to 23.18 per cent in February 2025, an economist expert forecasts further deceleration for the rest of the year.
However, Nigerians remain sceptical about the reported decline, saying it was just mere statistics as it does not reflect the current economic situation, especially as the costs of goods and services are still high.
