Inflation Eases Again as Nigeria’s Headline Rate Falls to 20.12% in August

Nigeria experienced its fifth consecutive month of declining inflation, with the headline rate falling to 20.12% in August 2025, down from the 21.88% recorded during the previous month of July 2025.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) published these updated statistics on Monday, revealing continued economic stabilisation.

The monthly inflation figure reached 0.74% in August, demonstrating continued improvement from earlier periods.

The NBS explained that August 2025 witnessed a slower pace of price increases compared to the rate experienced in July 2025.

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

The statistical agency reported that the Consumer Price Index’s twelve-month average change ending in August 2025 compared to the prior twelve-month period reached 24.66%, representing a significant 6.6% reduction from the 31.26% figure recorded during August 2024.

The NBS data revealed that urban areas experienced an inflation rate of 19.75% in August 2025, marking a substantial 14.83 percentage point decrease from the 34.58% rate documented in August 2024. Monthly urban inflation measured 0.49% in August 2025, falling 1.37% from July’s 1.86% rate.

Urban areas showed a twelve-month average inflation rate of 25.81% in August 2025, declining 7.63 percentage points from the 33.44% recorded in the corresponding month of 2024.

Rural regions posted a year-over-year inflation rate of 20.28% in August 2025, according to NBS findings. This represented a 9.67 percentage point decrease from August 2024’s 29.95% rate. Rural monthly inflation stood at 1.38% in August 2025, dropping 0.92% from July’s 2.30% figure.

The rural twelve-month average inflation rate for August 2025 was 23.07%, showing a 6.25 percentage point decline from the 29.32% recorded in August 2024.

Food prices increased at an annual rate of 21.87% in August 2025, falling dramatically by 15.65 percentage points from August 2024’s rate of 37.52%.

The NBS highlighted that this substantial reduction in annual food inflation stems primarily from the revised base year calculation methodology.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in August 2025 was 1.65%, down by 1.47% compared to July 2025 (3.12%),” NBS stated.

The statistical bureau attributed this monthly decline to reduced prices across various staple foods, including imported and locally produced rice, guinea corn flour, loose maize flour, guinea corn (sorghum), millet, semolina, and soya milk products.

Food inflation’s twelve-month average for the period ending August 2025 reached 25.75%, representing an 11.24 percentage point improvement over August 2024’s 36.99% rate.

The NBS report identified that core inflation—which excludes volatile agricultural and energy prices—registered 20.33% on an annual basis in August 2025, declining 7.25% from the 27.58% rate observed in August 2024.

Core inflation’s monthly rate increased to 1.43% in August 2025, rising 0.46% above July 2025’s 0.97% figure.

The twelve-month average core inflation rate measured 23.04% for the period ending August 2025, showing a 2.14 percentage point improvement from the 25.18% recorded in August 2024.