Inflation rate hits 23.71% in April

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 23.71 percent in April 2025, reflecting a 0.52 percentage point decline from the 24.23 percent recorded in March.

This was disclosed in the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The report also showed a decline in the food inflation index, which dropped by 0.53 percentage points to 21.26 percent in April from 21.79 percent in March. The decrease was attributed to the reduction in the prices of staple food items, including maize (corn) flour, wheat grain, dried okro, yam flour, soya beans, rice, bambara beans, and brown beans.

According to the NBS: “The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 119.52 in April 2025, reflecting a 2.18-point increase from the preceding month.”

“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 9.99% lower than the rate recorded in April 2024 (33.69%). This indicates a significant decrease compared to the same month in the preceding year, though with a different base year of November 2009 = 100.”

The report further noted that the food inflation rate on a year-on-year basis stood at 21.26% in April 2025, marking a 19.27 percentage point reduction compared to 40.53% in April 2024. The NBS attributed this sharp decline to a change in the base year used for calculations.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was recorded at 2.06% in April 2025, a slight drop of 0.12% from 2.18% in March 2025.

“The decrease can be attributed to the reduction in the average prices of key food items like Maize Flour, Wheat Grain, Okro Dried, Yam Flour, Soya Beans, Rice, Bambara Beans, and Brown Beans,” the report added.

The easing of both headline and food inflation is seen as a positive development for consumers, although economic analysts have called for sustained policy measures to ensure price stability in the coming months.