Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased for the fourth consecutive month in July 2025, settling at 21.88 percent, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
This represents a 0.34 percentage point drop from the 22.22 percent recorded in June. On a year-on-year basis, headline inflation was 11.52 percentage points lower than the 33.40 percent posted in July 2024.
“The CPI climbed to 125.9 in July 2025, signalling a 2.5-point increase from 123.4 in June. However, the headline inflation rate moderated to 21.88 percent, reflecting sustained efforts to stabilise price growth,” the NBS stated.
Despite the slowdown on an annual basis, prices continued to rise in the short term as month-on-month inflation accelerated to 1.99 percent from 1.68 percent in June.
“The easing year-on-year rate is encouraging, but households are still grappling with rising costs monthly,” an analyst at the bureau said.
“This suggests that while the inflation trend is moderating, the pressure on cost of living remains elevated.”
The bureau attributed the sharp annual decline partly to the change in the CPI base year.
Food inflation stood at 22.74 percent year-on-year in July, significantly below the 39.53 percent recorded in July 2024. On a monthly basis, however, food prices rose by 3.12 percent, marginally lower than the 3.25 percent posted in June.
The slower rise was linked to softer price increases in local staples such as vegetable oil, rice, maize flour, guinea corn, wheat flour and millet.
Breaking down the data further, urban inflation was 22.01 percent while the rural rate came in slightly lower at 21.08 percent.
Nonetheless, rural areas recorded a sharper month-on-month increase at 2.30 percent, compared with 1.86 percent in urban areas.
Core inflation, which strips out food and energy prices, decelerated to 21.33 percent year-on-year, from 27.47 percent in July last year. On a monthly basis, it declined to 0.97 percent, down from 2.46 percent in June, signaling easing pressure in non-food categories.
At state level, Borno (34.52%), Niger (27.18%) and Benue (25.73%) recorded the highest annual headline inflation, while Yobe (11.43%), Zamfara (12.75%) and Katsina (15.64%) posted the lowest.
“The numbers clearly show that headline inflation is on a downward path. What is worrying Nigerians more, however, is the persistent month-on-month increase, which directly impacts the cost of living,” an Abuja-based economist, Dr. Rotimi Salami, said.
“Until these monthly price rises begin to slow significantly, the impact of inflation will continue to be felt by households across the country.”
While policymakers may draw some comfort from the continued easing of yearly inflation, economic analysts warn that persistent monthly increases underscore the harsh reality facing many Nigerians as living costs remain stubbornly high.