Nigeria’s Inflation rate drops to 16.05% in October 2025, says NBS
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday disclosed that Nigeria’s inflation trajectory showed a notable improvement in October 2025, with the headline inflation rate easing to 16.05per cent, a significant decline from the 18.02per cent recorded in September 2025.
The report disclosed that the year-on-year headline inflation rate stood at 17.82per cent, lower than the 33.88per cent recorded in October 2024.
According to the Bureau, this indicates that headline inflation decreased compared to the same month last year, though based on a different base year (November 2009).
The NBS further explained: “On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in October 2025 was 0.93per cent, which was 0.21per cent higher than the rate recorded in September 2025 (0.72per cent). This means that in October 2025, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in September 2025.”
According to the NBS, the urban inflation rate in October 2025 stood at 15.65per cent, representing a 20.73 percentage-point decline from the 36.38per cent recorded in October 2024. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation rose to 1.14per cent in October 2025, an increase of 0.40per cent compared to 0.74per cent in September 2025.
The Bureau added that the twelve-month average urban inflation rate was 22.68per cent in October 2025, which is 11.84 percentage points lower than the 34.52% reported in October 2024.
For rural inflation, the NBS reported a year-on-year rate of 15.86per cent in October 2025—15.73 percentage points lower than the 31.59per cent recorded in October 2024. Month-on-month, rural inflation moderated to 0.45per cent, a decline of 0.22per cent from 0.67per cent in September 2025.
The 12-month average rural inflation rate stood at 20.81per cent in October 2025, down by 9.42 percentage points compared to the 30.24% recorded in October 2024.
The food inflation rate in October 2025 stood at 13.12per cent on a year-on-year basis, representing a 26.04 percentage-point decline from the 39.16per cent recorded in October 2024. The NBS noted that the significant drop in the annual food inflation figure is largely due to the change in the base year.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation printed at -0.37per cent in October 2025, an increase of 1.21per cent compared to the -1.57per cent recorded in September 2025.
According to the NBS, the upward movement in the monthly figure was driven by increases in the average prices of several food items, including fresh onions, oranges, pineapples, shrimp, unshelled groundnuts, vegetables such as ugu and okazi leaf, and various types of meat such as goat meat, cow tail, and liver.
The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending October 2025 was 21.96pper cent, which is 16.16 percentage points lower than the 38.12per cent recorded in October 2024.
