Nigeria’s inflation rate has steadily decreased for the sixth consecutive month, falling to 18 percent in September from 20.1 percent in August. This ongoing decline has sparked renewed hope that policymakers may opt for additional interest rate reductions at their upcoming meeting next month.
According to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the rate of price increases in September 2025 slowed compared to August, signaling a continued easing of inflationary pressures throughout the Nigerian economy.
The main driver behind this inflation deceleration was a drop in food prices, which constitute the largest portion of the consumer price index.
This development offers some relief to Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, which faced its steepest inflation surge in nearly 30 years last year. That spike was primarily triggered by the elimination of fuel subsidies and a sharp decline in the naira’s value.
On a year-over-year basis, headline inflation dropped by 14.7 percentage points compared to the previous year. This notable reduction was partly due to a rebasing of inflation metrics earlier in the year, which updated the methodology used to measure price changes.
Specifically, food inflation decreased to 16.9 percent, down 1.6 points from August. The statistics agency attributed this improvement to lower average prices of staple foods such as sorghum, dried yam slices, cowpeas, fonio, cassava, shallots, guinea fowl, chili peppers, and turmeric.
These positive figures may encourage the Central Bank of Nigeria to contemplate further cuts to the monetary policy rate at its November session, following the recent reduction implemented last month.
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Core inflation, which excludes volatile sectors such as energy and agricultural products, stood at 19.5 percent-a significant decline from 27.4 percent recorded a year earlier. Month-over-month, core inflation remained relatively stable, slipping slightly from 1.43 percent in August to 1.42 percent in September.
The report further noted, “The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending September 2025 was 24.06 percent, marking a 13.47 percentage point decrease compared to the 37.53 percent recorded in September 2024.”
Regionally, the highest year-on-year food inflation rates were observed in Ekiti (28.68 percent), Rivers (24.18 percent), and Nasarawa (22.74 percent). Conversely, Bauchi (2.81 percent), Niger (8.38 percent), and Anambra (8.41 percent) recorded the slowest increases in food prices.
On a monthly scale, food inflation in September 2025 was highest in Zamfara (15.62 percent), Ekiti (12.77 percent), and Sokoto (12.55 percent). Meanwhile, Akwa Ibom (-12.97 percent), Borno (-12.95 percent), and Cross River (-10.36 percent) experienced declines in food inflation compared to August.