Nigeria’s inflation rate eased slightly in April 2025, with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reporting a year-on-year rate of 23.71%, down from 24.23% in March. This marks a modest improvement of 0.52 percentage points, signaling a potential shift in the country’s battle against rising consumer prices.
According to the NBS data released Thursday, the inflation rate on a year-over-year basis fell by nearly 10 percentage points compared to April 2024, when it stood at 33.69%. The month-over-month change also showed a deceleration, with April recording 1.86%, down from 3.90% the previous month.
Core and Food Inflation Trends
Core inflation, which excludes volatile items like food and energy, was recorded at 23.39% in April 2025. This is a decline from 26.84% in April 2024, reflecting a 3.45 percentage point reduction. On a monthly basis, core inflation dropped to 1.34%, significantly lower than March’s 3.73%.
Food inflation, a key concern for most households, also showed notable improvement. The year-on-year food inflation rate declined sharply to 21.26%, compared to 40.53% in April of the previous year. The NBS attributed this significant reduction primarily to a base-year effect due to changes in statistical methodology. On a month-over-month basis, food inflation dropped slightly from 2.18% in March to 2.06% in April, driven by lower prices in items such as rice, yam flour, dried okro, and maize flour.
Urban and Rural Inflation Patterns
Urban inflation declined to 24.29% year-on-year, a drop of 11.71 percentage points from April 2024’s 36.00%. On a monthly scale, urban inflation fell to 1.18%, down from 3.96% in March.
In rural areas, inflation dropped to 22.83% year-on-year, from 31.64% recorded during the same month last year. Month-on-month, rural inflation decreased slightly to 3.56% from 3.73% in March.
What Analysts Are Saying
Economic experts had anticipated this mild inflationary relief. Damilare Asimiyu, Head of Research at Afrinvest West Africa, explained that the lower figures were largely influenced by a favorable base effect.
“April 2024 marked a significant inflation peak, so the comparison naturally introduces a downward bias,” Asimiyu said.
Inflation Drivers and Outlook
The NBS identified key sectors contributing to inflation over the past year. Top among them were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (9.49%), followed by Restaurants and Accommodation (3.06%), Transport (2.53%), and Housing, Utilities, and Energy (2.00%).
As Nigeria prepares for the Central Bank’s 300th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting next week, all eyes are on how the new data might influence interest rate decisions and broader economic policy in the months ahead.
