‘Very Necessary!’ Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Drops From 34.8% to 24.48%

OwelekeTV (Business, News) — The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that Nigeria’s inflation rate declined from 34.8% in December 2024 to 24.48% in January 2025, following the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

In a statement on Tuesday, the NBS explained that despite the drop, the inflation rate remains significantly higher than the 29.9% recorded in January 2024, reflecting an increase of 18.12% year-on-year.

The Statistician-General of the Federation and CEO of NBS, Adeyemi Adeniran, said the CPI rebasing was necessary to align with the country’s economic realities and structural shifts.

“The all-items index which is used to measure headline inflation for January 2025 was 110.7, resulting in a headline inflation rate of 24.48% on a year-on-year basis,”

Adeniran stated.

He further explained that the decline in inflation was influenced by key economic factors.

“This increase was mainly driven by Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Restaurants and Accommodation Services, and Transport,”

he added.

Providing a breakdown of the figures, Adeniran noted that “the Food Index for January 2025 was 110.03, resulting in a Food Inflation rate of 26.08% year-on-year. The Core Index, which is All-Items less farm produce and energy, stood at 110.7, giving rise to a Core Inflation rate of 22.59% year-on-year.”

He also highlighted the differences in urban and rural inflation rates.

“Disaggregating by sector, the Urban inflation rate was 26.09%, while the Rural Inflation rate was 22.15%,”

he said.

As part of efforts to enhance CPI reporting, Adeniran revealed that the NBS would begin publishing new special indices to provide more insights for policymakers.

“In line with improvements made to the reporting of the CPI, going forward, NBS will be publishing some new special indices to inform policymakers. These special indices include the Farm Produce Index, Energy Index, Services Index, Goods Index, and Imported Food Index,”

he disclosed.

Adeniran clarified that due to the recent introduction of these indices, annual comparisons would begin in 2026, while month-on-month tracking would commence in February 2025.

The NBS also reported that food inflation fell from 39.84% to 26.08%, while core inflation declined from 29.28% to 22.59%. Urban inflation dropped from 37.29% to 26.09%, and rural inflation reduced from 32.47% to 22.15%.

While the rebasing exercise presents a more updated view of Nigeria’s economic landscape, analysts warn that inflationary pressures remain a concern due to persistent currency depreciation and rising costs of goods and services.