The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Friday that Nigeria’s inflation rate continued its downward trajectory in July 2025, falling to 21.88 per cent.
The statistics agency attributed the slowdown to the recent rebasing of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The July 2025 inflation figure marks the fifth consecutive month of decline this year, representing a 0.34 percentage point drop from the 22.22 per cent recorded in June 2025.
In its newly released CPI report, NBS identified the main contributors to headline inflation as food and non-alcoholic beverages, which accounted for 8.75 per cent, restaurants and accommodation services (2.83 per cent), and transport (2.33 per cent).
The smallest contributors were recreation, sport, and culture (0.07 per cent), alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics (0.08 per cent), along with insurance and financial services (0.10 per cent).
NBS reported that food inflation in July 2025 stood at 22.74 per cent year-on-year. On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate was 3.12 per cent, which is 0.14 percentage points lower than June’s 3.25 per cent.
The moderation reflected slower price increases in staple items such as vegetable oil, white beans, local rice, maize flour, guinea corn (sorghum), wheat flour, and whole millet grain.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural products and energy, was 21.33 per cent on a year-on-year basis in July 2025.
Month-on-month, the core inflation rate stood at 0.97 per cent, representing a 1.49 percentage point decrease from the 2.46 per cent recorded in June 2025.
Applying its newly introduced CPI indices, NBS stated that farm produce inflation was 3.96 per cent, energy inflation was 2.71 per cent, and goods inflation was 2.72 per cent.
Their respective index points stood at 128.5 for farm produce, 121.2 for energy, and 124.6 for goods. Conversely, services inflation fell to 0.47 per cent during the month.
The agency reported that urban inflation in July 2025 reached 22.01 per cent year-on-year. On a monthly basis, urban inflation stood at 1.86 per cent, dropping by 0.25 percentage points compared to 2.11 per cent in June 2025.
In rural areas, inflation was 21.08 per cent year-on-year in July 2025. Month-on-month, rural inflation rose to 2.30 per cent, showing a 1.67 percentage point increase compared to the 0.63 per cent recorded in June 2025.
The NBS explained that the July 2025 CPI figures are based on a new 2024 base year with a 2023 weight reference period.
It also noted that the overall CPI level rose to 125.9 points in July 2025, representing a 2.5-point increase from the preceding month.