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Abdulazeez Abubakar
8 hours ago
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Nigeria’s inflation eases to 15.15% in December 2025 – NBS
Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that the country’s inflation rate eased to 15.15% in December 2025.
According to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by the NBS, on its website on Thursday, the latest figure was due to the methodological review by the NBS, marking a sharp moderation in price pressures compared with both the preceding month and the same period last year.
It noted that the CPI rose to 131.2 points in December 2025 from 130.5 points in November, indicating a slower pace of increase in average prices.
On a year-on-year basis, inflation declined from 17.33 per cent in November 2025 and was significantly lower than the 34.80 per cent recorded in December 2024, showing a notable deceleration in headline inflation over the 12-month period down from 1.22% in November, signalling a reduction in the general price level.
However, earlier in December 2025, the NBS had reported that the headline inflation rate was 14.45 per cent year on year for November, compared with 16.05 per cent recorded in October 2025.
Following the methodology review, the NBS now puts the November inflation rate at 17.33 per cent, higher than the previously reported figure.
It explained that the December inflation figures were influenced by a change in methodology following the CPI rebasing.
The year-on-year headline inflation rate and other sub-indices were computed using a 12-month index reference period, with the average CPI for 2024 set to 100, rather than a single-month reference period.
The bureau noted that using a single-month base would have produced “an artificial spike in the December 2025 year-on-year inflation rate,” driven by base effects rather than underlying price movements.
It added that the adjustment aligns with international best practice as outlined in the IMF Consumer Price Index Manual and the ECOWAS Harmonised CPI Manual.
Despite the moderation in monthly inflation, the 12-month average inflation rate remained elevated.
The percentage change in the average CPI for the 12 months ending December 2025 over the previous 12-month period stood at 23.01 per cent, highlighting the cumulative impact of inflation over the year.
A breakdown of the headline figure showed that food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to inflation, accounting for 6.06 percentage points of the year-on-year rate.
Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 1.96 percentage points, transport accounted for 1.62 percentage points, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 1.28 percentage points.
Education services, health, clothing and footwear, information and communication, and other divisions also added to overall inflation, though at lower levels.
Both urban and rural inflation eased sharply. Urban inflation stood at 14.85 per cent year on year in December 2025, down from 37.29 per cent in December 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, however, urban inflation edged up slightly to 0.99 per cent from 0.95 per cent in November. The twelve-month average urban inflation rate stood at 23.46 per cent.
Rural inflation fell to 14.56 per cent year on year in December 2025 from 32.47 per cent a year earlier. Unlike urban areas, rural inflation recorded a month-on-month decline of 0.55 per cent, compared with a 1.88 per cent increase in November. The corresponding twelve-month average rural inflation rate was 21.93 per cent.
Food inflation, which has been a major pressure point for households, recorded one of the steepest improvements.
The food inflation rate dropped to 10.84 per cent year on year in December 2025 from 39.84 per cent in December 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation declined by 0.36 per cent, reversing the 1.13 per cent increase recorded in November.
The NBS attributed the decline to falling average prices of items such as tomatoes, garri, eggs, potatoes, carrots, millet, vegetables, plantain, beans, wheat grain, ground pepper and fresh onions. The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending December 2025 stood at 22.00 per cent.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, also moderated. The all items less farm produce and energy index showed that core inflation eased to 18.63 per cent year on year in December 2025 from 29.28 per cent in December 2024.
Month on month, core inflation slowed to 0.58 per cent from 1.28 per cent in November, while the twelve-month average core inflation rate stood at 23.49 per cent.
Other sub-indices showed mixed movements. Farm produce prices declined by 0.41 per cent on a month-on-month basis in December, compared with a 0.77 per cent increase in November.
Energy prices rose by 2.74 per cent in December, higher than the 1.08 per cent increase recorded a month earlier. Services inflation slowed sharply to 0.15 per cent from 1.78 per cent, while goods inflation eased slightly to 0.64 per cent from 0.73 per cent.
https://apanews.net/nigerias-inflation-eases-to-15-15-in-december-2025-nbs/
