Inflation rate eases to 22.97% in May — NBS
National Bureau of Statistics NBS
Abdullateef Fowewe
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 121.35 in May 2025, marking a 1.83-point rise from the previous month.
Despite this uptick in the CPI, the headline inflation rate showed signs of easing, dropping to 22.97% in May from 23.71% in April 2025, National Bureau of Statistics confirmed in its latest report.
This represents a 0.74 percentage point decrease in the headline inflation rate compared to the previous month.
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was significantly lower, falling by 10.98 percentage points from 33.95% in May 2024 to 22.97% in May 2025.
This decline reflects a positive trend in controlling inflation over the past year, although it is important to note the different base year used for comparison (November 2009 = 100).
The report enunciates, “In May 2025, the Headline inflation rate eased to 22.97% relative to the April 2025 headline inflation rate of 23.71%.
“Looking at the movement, the May 2025 Headline inflation rate decreased 0.74% compared to the April 2025 Headline inflation rate.
“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 10.98% lower than the rate recorded in May 2024 (33.95%).
“This 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, November 2009 = 100.”
Additionally, the month-on-month headline inflation rate in May 2025 stood at 1.53%, which is 0.33 percentage points lower than the 1.86% recorded in April 2025. This indicates a slower rate of increase in the average price level compared to the previous month.
On food inflation, the Bureau said, “The Food inflation rate in May 2025 was 21.14% on a year-on-year basis.
“This was 19.52% points lower compared to the rate recorded in May 2024 (40.66%). 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, the Food inflation rate in May 2025 was 2.19%, up by 0.12% compared to April 2025 (2.06%).
“The increase can be attributed to the rate of decrease in the average prices of Yam, Avenger (Ogbono/Apon), Cassava Tuber, Maize Flour, Fresh Pepper, Sweet Potatoes, etc.
“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending May 2025 over the previous twelve-month average was 29.80%, which was 4.26% points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in May 2024 (34.06%).”
According to the NBS in its state profile, food inflation year-on-year in May 2025 peaked in Borno at 64.36%, followed by Bayelsa at 39.85% and Taraba at 38.58%. In contrast, the slowest increases in food inflation were observed in Katsina (6.90%), Rivers (9.18%), and Kwara (11.31%).
It also noted, “ On a month-on-month basis, however, May 2025 Food inflation was highest in Bayelsa (12.68%), Cross River (11.15%), and Anambra (9.10%) while Katsina (-5.42%), Jigawa (-4.02%) and Kaduna (-3.27%), recorded decline in Food inflation on a month-on-month basis.”
