NIGERIA’s headline inflation rate eased for the fourth consecutive month in July 2025, falling to 21.88 per cent from 22.22 per cent in June, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics have shown.
The latest Consumer Price Index report released on Friday revealed that the July rate was 0.34 percentage points lower than the previous month and 11.52 percentage points below the 33.40 per cent recorded in July 2024.
The NBS report read, “The Consumer Price Index rose to 125.9 in July 2025, reflecting a 2.5-point increase from the preceding month (123.4).
“In July 2025, the Headline inflation rate eased to 21.88 per cent relative to the June 2025 headline inflation rate of 22.22 per cent.
“Looking at the movement, the July 2025 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.34 per cent compared to the June 2025 Headline inflation rate.”
The statistics office noted that the marked year-on-year drop partly reflected the recent change in the CPI base year.
Despite the slowdown in the annual rate, prices continued to rise in the short term, with the month-on-month inflation rate climbing to 1.99 per cent in July from 1.68 per cent in June, suggesting that households are still facing sustained price pressures.
Food inflation stood at 22.74 per cent year-on-year in July, compared to 39.53 per cent in the same month last year.
On a monthly basis, food prices rose by 3.12 per cent, slightly below the 3.25 per cent recorded in June.
The moderation was driven by slower price increases in vegetable oil, local rice, maize flour, guinea corn, wheat flour and millet.
Urban inflation was 22.01 per cent year-on-year, while the rural rate was 21.08 per cent.
However, rural areas experienced sharper price increases on a monthly basis at 2.30 per cent, compared to 1.86 per cent in urban areas.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural items and energy, slowed to 21.33 per cent in July from 27.47 per cent a year earlier.
Month-on-month, it fell to 0.97 per cent from 2.46 per cent in June, reflecting easing price pressures in non-food categories.
At the state level, Borno, Niger and Benue recorded the highest annual headline inflation rates at 34.52 per cent, 27.18 per cent and 25.73 per cent, respectively, while Yobe (11.43 per cent), Zamfara (12.75 per cent) and Katsina (15.64 per cent) posted the lowest.
Although the data confirm that headline inflation has continued to moderate on an annual basis, the persistent monthly increases underline the reality that the cost of living remains elevated for many Nigerians.