By Obinna Uballa
Nigeria’s inflation rate eased sharply to 18.02% in September 2025, its lowest level in more than a year, down from 20.12% recorded in August, according to new data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The latest figures indicate a significant moderation in price increases across key sectors of the economy, signaling a potential turning point in the country’s inflation-easing cycle.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at 0.72%, showing that the average rise in prices during the month was slower than in August. “This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in September 2025 compared to the same month in the preceding year,” NBS said.
Urban and rural inflation trends
The NBS report showed that urban inflation stood at 17.50% in September 2025, substantially lower than 35.13% in September 2024. Month-on-month, urban inflation increased slightly to 0.74% from 0.49% recorded in August.
The twelve-month average urban inflation was 24.35%, 9.6 percentage points lower than the 33.95% posted a year earlier.
Rural inflation followed a similar trend, dropping to 18.26% year-on-year from 30.49% in September 2024. On a monthly basis, rural inflation declined to 0.67% in September 2025, from 1.38% in August. The twelve-month average rural inflation rate also fell to 22.08%, compared to 29.76% the previous year.
Food inflation sees biggest drop
Food inflation , which has been a major driver of headline inflation, dropped dramatically to 16.87% year-on-year, down by 20.9 percentage points from 37.77% in September 2024. The fall is largely attributed to a change in the base year and a drop in the prices of key staples such as maize, garri, beans, millet, potatoes, onions, eggs, tomatoes, and pepper.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation posted a negative rate of -1.57%, indicating that average food prices actually fell in September.
The average annual food inflation for the twelve months ending September 2025 stood at 24.06%, down from 37.53% in the same period last year.
Core inflation moderates
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, slowed to 19.53% in September 2025, down from 27.43% in September 2024. Month-on-month, it edged slightly lower to 1.42% from 1.43% in August.
The twelve-month average core inflation rate was 22.39%, compared to 25.64% recorded in the previous year.
