THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday said inflation declined to 22.97 per cent in May 2025 from the 23.71 per cent recorded in April 2025.
Statistician General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, made this known in a press statement issued at Abuja.
He said, “The headline inflation rate for May 2025 decreased to 22.97 per cent compared to the April 2025 rate of 23.71 per cent. This represents a decline of 0.74% from April 2025.”
He said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in May 2025 was 1.53 per cent, which was 0.33 per cent lower than the rate recorded in April 2025 (1.86 per cent).
According to him, contributions to Headline Inflation at the divisional level, the three major contributors to the headline inflation were Food and non-alcoholic Beverages: 9.20 per cent, Restaurants & Accommodation Services: 2.97 per cent, and Transport: 2.45 per cent; while the least contributors were Recreation, Sport, and Culture: 0.07 per cent, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics: 0.09 per cent, and Insurance and Financial Services: 0.11 per cent.
He said on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in May 2025 was 2.19 per cent, which rose by 0.13 per cent compared to April 2025 (2.06 per cent).
The NBS boss said the increase can be attributed to the rate of increase in average prices of items such as Yam, Avenger (Ogbono/Apon), Cassava Tuber, Maize Flour, Fresh Pepper, Sweet Potatoes, etc.
On Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, NBS said it stood at 22.28 per cent in May 2025 on a year-on-year basis.
He said on a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 1.10 per cent in May 2025, down 0.24 percentage points from April 2025 (1.34 per cent).
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Adeniran said the inflation rate of the newly introduced sub-indices for May 2025 shows that both Farm Produce and Goods stood at 22.38 per cent and 9.39 per cent compared to April 2025, which were 0.95 per cent and 1.89 per cent respectively.
He added that conversely, Services and Energy stood at 1.79 per cent and -0.43 per cent compared to 2.20% and 13.6% recorded in the previous month, respectively.
He said on a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate in May 2025 was 23.14 per cent.
According to him, on a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.40 per cent in May 2025, up by 0.22 per cent compared to April 2025 (1.18 per cent).
Adeniran said the rural inflation rate in May 2025 was 22.70 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
On a month-on-month basis, according to him, the rural inflation rate in May 2025 was 1.83 per cent, down by 1.72 per cent compared to April 2025 (3.56 per cent).
Continuing, the statement noted that on State-Level Analyses: The State CPI for April 2025 for some states has been revised due to updated information.
He said the change affected all states except for Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, and the FCT.
He stressed that the revision, however, does not affect the National CPI for April 2025.
In the period under review, NBS said the all Items Inflation all-item index on a year-on-year basis, was highest in Borno (38.93 per cent), Niger (34.97 per cent), and Plateau (32.35 per cent), while it recorded the lowest in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis in Katsina (16.25 per cent), Adamawa (18.20 per cent), Delta (18.41 per cent).
He said on a month-on-month basis, May 2025 recorded the highest increases in Bayelsa (9.11 per cent), Bauchi (4.85 per cent), and Borno (4.42 per cent), while it recorded declines in Kaduna (-6.75 per cent), Jigawa (-4.40 per cent), and Edo (-2.94 per cent).
He said State-level analyses of the food index in May 2025 show that food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Borno (64.36 per cent), Bayelsa (39.85 per cent), Taraba (38.58 per cent); while it recorded the slowest rise in Katsina (6.90 per cent), Rivers (9.18 per cent), and Kwara (11.31 per cent). On a month-on-month basis, in May 2025 food inflation was highest in Bayelsa (12.68 per cent), Cross River (11.15 per cent), and Anambra (9.10 per cent); while states like Katsina (-5.42 per cent), Jigawa (-4.02 per cent) and Kaduna (-3.27 per cent) recorded declines in food inflation on a month-on-month basis.
The statement stressed, “The National Bureau of Statistics is pleased to announce the release of the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures for May 2025. Following the completion of the recent rebasing exercise, this report is centred on a new CPI base year of 2024 and a weight reference period of 2023. Hence, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 121.35 in May 2025, and reflects a 1.83-point increase from the preceding month.”