Nigeria’s inflation rate eases in May – NBS

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate eased to 22.97 per cent in May from 23.71 per cent in April 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

The statistics office said the May 2025 headline inflation rate decreased 0.74 per cent compared to the April headline inflation rate.

On a year-on-year basis, the NBS said the headline inflation rate was 10.98 per cent lower than the rate recorded in May 2024 (33.95 per cent).

This, it said, shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in May 2025 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., May 2024), though with a different base year.

The NBS said 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).

“This means that in May 2025, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in April 2025,” it said.

According to the report, the food inflation rate in May 2025 was 21.14 per cent on a year-on-year basis. This, it said, was 19.52 per cent points lower compared to the rate recorded in May 2024 (40.66 per cent).

Nigeria has experienced a sharp increase in food prices in recent years. This trend worsened in 2023 following President Bola Tinubu’s removal of petrol subsidies and adoption of a floating exchange rate for the naira.

This shift has led to a steep increase in the cost of staple food, pushing many Nigerians further into poverty and heightening food insecurity.

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The persistent price surge over the past year has led to several farms and businesses closing, with many agricultural producers scaling back their output due to insecurity and unpredictable weather conditions affecting rural areas.

In response, Mr Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food insecurity in July 2023, aiming to combat rising food costs. Despite these efforts, at the time, food inflation has continued unabated.

In January, the NBS said Nigeria’s annual inflation rate dropped to 24.48 per cent from 34.80 per cent in December 2024 after rebasing.

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