9am News Nigeria reports that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased for the third consecutive month, dropping to 22.22% in June 2025 from 22.97% in May 2025.
This was contained in the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report published by the NBS on Tuesday. However, despite the headline decline, the report shows that food prices continue to exert upward pressure on households across the country.
The NBS report shows that on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in June 2025 was 11.97 percentage points lower than the 34.19% recorded in June 2024 a decline partly attributed to a change in the base year for calculation.
On a month-on-month basis, however, the CPI rose by 1.68% in June, slightly higher than the 1.53% recorded in May, indicating continued pressure on prices.
One of the key concerns for households is food inflation. While annual food inflation eased to 21.97%, down from 40.87% in June 2024, this is mostly due to the revised base year, according to the Bureau.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation rose by 3.25% in June, up from 2.19% in May an increase of 1.07 percentage points within one month.
The NBS attributed the spike in food costs to higher prices of staple items such as green peas (dried), fresh pepper, dried shrimps, crayfish, fresh meat, tomatoes, plantain flour, and ground pepper.
The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending June 2025 was 28.28%, which is 7.06 percentage points lower than the 35.35% recorded in June 2024.
According to the NBS data, Borno, Abuja, and Benue recorded the highest headline inflation rates year-on-year, at 31.63%, 26.79%, and 25.91% respectively. Zamfara, Yobe, and Sokoto recorded the lowest at 9.90%, 13.51%, and 15.78%.
On a month-on-month basis, the highest inflation increases were in Ekiti (5.39%), Delta (5.15%), and Lagos (5.13%), while Zamfara (-6.89%), Niger (-5.35%), and Plateau (-4.01%) recorded the steepest declines.
For food inflation, Borno (47.40%), Ebonyi (30.62%), and Bayelsa (28.64%) topped the list year-on-year, while Katsina (6.21%), Adamawa (10.90%), and Sokoto (15.25%) saw the slowest increases.
On a month-on-month basis, Enugu (11.90%), Kwara (9.97%), and Rivers (9.88%) recorded the highest increases in food prices, while Borno (-7.63%), Sokoto (-6.43%), and Bayelsa (-6.34%) saw notable declines.
Urban vs Rural Inflation
The NBS report also revealed that Nigeria’s urban inflation rate stood at 22.72% in June, down from 36.55% a year ago. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation rose to 2.11% in June, up from 1.40% in May.
The rural inflation rate was 20.85% year-on-year, down from 32.09% in June 2024. However, rural inflation fell to 0.63% on a month-on-month basis, compared to 1.83% in May.
Private Sector Calls for Policy Adjustments
Reacting to the figures, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) welcomed the gradual decline in headline inflation but warned that persistent food inflation and rising month-on-month numbers remain worrisome.
CPPE’s CEO, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said more needs to be done to tackle imported input costs and recommended a recalibration of tariff policies. He also highlighted the impact of currency disparities with neighbouring countries, which he said is creating incentives for the export of Nigerian agricultural products, further squeezing domestic supply.
“It is curious that despite the stability in the exchange rate, core inflation remains stubbornly high,” Yusuf told 9am News Nigeria. “Greater attention needs to be paid to trade policies, input tariffs, and the exchange rate for import duties to ease production costs.”
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