Nigeria’s inflation drops for 2nd consecutive month to 23.18% in February

• Nigeria’s inflation dropped for second consecutive month to 23.18 per cent in February
• The February inflation rate is a1.30 per cent decline from the 24.48 per cent recorded in January
• The inflation rate was calculated using the rebased Consumer Price Index report

Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped for the second consecutive month in February 2025 to 23.18 per cent from 24.48 per cent recorded in January.

According to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Monday, March 17, the inflation rate decreased by 1.30 per cent within the month.

The report showed that on a year-on-year basis, the inflation rate dropped by 8.52 percentage points from 31.70 per cent recorded in February 2024.

The NBS noted that while the inflation figures were calculated using a different base year, the decline suggests a significant slowdown in price increases compared to the same period last year.

The month-on-month inflation rate for February stood at 2.04 per cent, while food inflation rate in February 2025 was 23.51 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

“In February 2025, the headline inflation rate eased to 23.18 per cent relative to the January 2025 headline inflation rate of 24.48 per cent.

“Looking at the movement, the February 2025 headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.30 per cent compared to the January 2025 Headline inflation rate.

“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 8.52 per cent lower than the rate recorded in February 2024 (31.70 per cent).

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in February 2025 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., February 2024), though with a different base year, November 2009 = 100.

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in February 2025 stood at 2.04 per cent,” the NBS stated.

Inflation rate declined in January following CPI rebasing

Following the rebasing of the CPI to reflect current inflationary pressures, according to the NBS, Nigeria’s headline inflation dropped to 24.48 per cent in January 2025, declining from a 34.80 per cent high in December 2024.

The NBS said the decline was driven by the prices of food, beverages, clothing, and footwear items.

It also said food inflation was 26.08 per cent year-on-year for January 2025, a decrease from the 39.84 per cent recorded in December 2024.

Inflationary pressures persisted throughout 2024

The Nigerian economy faced heightened inflationary pressures throughout 2024, surpassing a 28-year high four times within the year.

The year began with a 29.90 per cent inflation rate, and surged between February and June 2024 before decelerating in July 2024 to 33.40 per cent after 19 months of consistent increase.

The 0.79 percentage month-on-month drop from the June figures was the first decline in the headline inflation rate since December 2022, when it last dropped to 21.34 per cent.

Nigeria also recorded two consecutive months of decline in the inflation rate in August 2024 when it reduced to 32.15 per cent, a 1.25 percentage decrease compared to the 33.40 per cent recorded in July 2024.

However, the inflation figures surged in September and maintained the upward trend till December 2024 when it reached 34.80 per cent.

Report projects inflation rate drop to 27.1% by December 2025

Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Nigeria’s inflation rate was projected to drop to 27.1 per cent by December 2025.

This was according to the NESG-Stanbic IBTC Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) report, which stated that inflationary pressures that were very pronounced in 2024 will gradually ease off in 2025.