Cost of Living Increases at Slower Pace as Inflation Drops 20.12%
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported a decline in Nigeria’s inflation rate, which fell to 20.12% in August 2025, marking a 1.76 percentage point drop from the 21.88% recorded in July.
According to a report released on Monday, food inflation also declined significantly, dropping to 1.65% month-on-month in August, compared to 3.12% in July. This decrease was largely driven by falling prices in staple items such as imported and local rice, guinea corn flour, maize flour (sold loose), sorghum, millet, semolina, and soya milk.
On a year-on-year basis, the report stated that the headline inflation rate was 12.03 percentage points lower than the 32.15% recorded in August 2024, showing a notable slowdown in inflation when compared to the same month last year. It should be noted that the figures are based on the November 2009 = 100 index.
Month-on-month, headline inflation was 0.74% in August, a 1.25 percentage point decrease from the 1.99% recorded in July, indicating a reduced rate of increase in general price levels.
In terms of food inflation, the year-on-year rate for August 2025 stood at 21.87%, a significant drop of 15.65 percentage points from 37.52% in August 2024. This sharp decline is partly attributed to a shift in the base year used for calculation.
On a monthly basis, food inflation fell by 1.47 percentage points, from 3.12% in July to 1.65% in August. The reduction reflects lower average prices in key food items such as rice, maize flour, guinea corn, and soya milk.
The report also noted that the average annual food inflation rate for the 12 months ending August 2025 was 25.75%, which is 11.24 percentage points lower than the 36.99% recorded in the corresponding period ending August 2024.
