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Nigeria’s inflation rate has dropped to 18.02% in September 2025, the lowest it’s been in over a year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This marks the sixth consecutive monthly decline in inflation since April 2025, reflecting a gradual easing of price pressures across key economic sectors.
The decline in inflation can be attributed to lower food prices and slower month-on-month increases. Food inflation dropped sharply to 16.87% from 21.87% in August, reflecting lower average prices of staples like maize, garri, beans, millet, potatoes, onions, eggs, tomatoes, and fresh pepper. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation actually recorded a negative rate of -1.57%, indicating that average food prices fell in September.
The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending September 2025 stood at 24.06%, which was 13.47 percentage points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in September 2024. Urban inflation stood at 17.50%, substantially lower than 35.13% in September 2024, while rural inflation dropped to 18.26% year-on-year from 30.49% in September 2024.
The drop in inflation could strengthen the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary policy stance ahead of its next MPC meeting, offering hope of improved price stability and purchasing power. However, experts caution that structural issues, including logistics bottlenecks, insecurity in food-producing regions, and high transport costs, could still pose risks to sustained disinflation.
The inflation rate has significant implications for millions of Nigerians, and its impact will depend on whether the easing inflation translates into lower food and energy costs in real household spending. Analysts say the drop in inflation is a positive sign, but sustained policy discipline and improved economic fundamentals will be crucial to maintaining this trend.
