Nigeria’s headline inflation rate dropped to 18.02% in September, down from 20.12% in August.
This is the sixth consecutive headline inflation drop this year, according to the Consumer Price Index and Inflation (CPI) data released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
NBS data showed that the country’s inflation declined by 0.72% on a month-on-month basis.
The CPI data noted that the food inflation rate was -1.57% month-on-month.
‘In September 2025, the headline inflation rate eased to 18.02% relative to the August 2025 inflation rate of 20.12%.
‘The MoM (month-on-month) headline inflation rate in September 2025 was 0.72%.
‘The food inflation rate was -1.57 per cent MoM’, the NBS stated.
According to NBS, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 14.68% lower than that of September 2024 (32.70%), showing that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in September 2025 compared to the same month in the preceding year.
‘However, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in September 2025 was 0.72%, which was 0.02% lower than the rate recorded in August 2025 (0.74%). This means that in September 2025, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2025’, disclosed part of the report.
Food inflation rate in September 2025 was 16.87% on a year-on-year basis. This was 20.9% points lower compared to the rate recorded in September 2024 (37.77%) and core inflation (all items less farm produces and energy) stood at 19.53% in September 2025 on a year-on-year basis; declined by 7.9%, when compared to the 27.43% recorded in September 2024.
The development comes as Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company, Mr. Bismark Rewane, in his latest analysis, projected that Nigeria’s inflation would moderate to 18% in November 2025.
However, the recent hike in the prices of fuel and cooking gas could impact subsequent inflation figures and the cost of living for Nigerians.
