Nigeria’s annual inflation rate eased to 20.12% in August from 21.88% in July. However, the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2025 over the previous twelve-month average was 25.75%, with Borno, Kano and Akwa Ibom states recording the highest rise in food inflation rate.
These information are contained in the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) inflation report for August 2025.
According to the NBS, the August 2025 headline inflation rate decreased by 1.76% compared to the July 2025 inflation figure.
On a year-on-year basis, the NBS said the headline inflation rate was 12.03% lower than the rate recorded in August 2024, which stood at 32.15%. This, it said, shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in August 2025 compared to the same month in the corresponding period in 2024.
The report said the food inflation rate in August 2025 was 21.87% yearly. This was 15.65 percentage points lower compared to the rate recorded in August 2024 (37.52%).
In its report, the NBS said the contributions of items on the divisional year-on-year level to the increase in the headline index are food and non-alcoholic beverages (8.05%), restaurants and accommodation services (2.60%), transport (2.15%), housing, water, electricity, gas ad other fuel (1.69%), education services (1.25%), health (1.22%), clothing & footwear (1.01%). Others are information and communication (0.66%), personal care, social protection, and miscellaneous goods and services (0.66%), furnishing, household equipment, and routine household maintenance (0.60%), insurance and financial services (0.09%), alcoholic beverage, tobacco and narcotics (0.07%) and recreation, sport and culture (0.06%).
The NBS explained that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 126.8 in August 2025, reflecting a 0.9-point increase from the preceding month (125.9).
It noted that the percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending August 2025 over the average for the previous twelve-month period was 24.66%, showing a 6.6% decrease compared to 31.26% recorded in August 2024.
The NBS said the significant decline in the annual food inflation figure is technically due to the change in the base year. On a month-on-month basis, it said the food inflation rate in August 2025 was 1.65%, down by 1.47% compared to July 2025 (3.12%), adding that the decrease can be attributed to the rate of decline in the average prices of rice (imported), rice (local), guinea corn flour, maize flour sold loose, guinea corn (sorghum), millet, semolina, soya milk, etc.
“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2025 over the previous twelve-month average was 25.75%, which was 11.24 percentage points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2024 (36.99%),” the NBS said.
The bureau said in August 2025, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Borno (36.67%), Kano (30.44%), Akwa Ibom (29.85%), while Zamfara (3.30%), Yobe (3.60%), and Sokoto (6.34%) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on year-on-year basis.
“On a month-on-month basis, however, August 2025 food inflation was highest in Kaduna (9.37%), Katsina (9.05%), Akwa Ibom (7.87%), and while Bayelsa (-9.52%), Sokoto (-8.92%), and Borno (-8.74%) recorded decline in food inflation on month-on-month basis,” it said.
