The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigeria’s inflation rate declined for the third month in a row, falling to 22.22% in June 2025 from 22.97% in May. This continued drop marks a steady downward trend since April, when inflation stood at 23.71%.
Despite the slight relief in headline inflation, food prices continued to rise, placing more pressure on households. According to the NBS Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Tuesday, food inflation climbed to 21.97% in June from 21.14% in May. This rise of 0.83 percentage points reflects the increasing cost of several essential items, including dried green peas, fresh pepper, white dried shrimps, crayfish, fresh meat, tomatoes, plantain flour, and ground pepper.
Month-on-month food inflation also surged to 3.25% in June, compared to 2.19% in May, as market prices for staple items continued to rise at a faster pace. While the year-on-year food inflation figure is down by nearly 19 percentage points from June 2024’s high of 40.87%, NBS attributes this sharp drop primarily to a change in the base year used for comparison.
On a regional level, Borno recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation at 47.40%, followed by Ebonyi at 30.62% and Bayelsa at 28.64%. Meanwhile, Katsina (6.21%), Adamawa (10.90%), and Sokoto (15.25%) experienced the slowest increases in food prices. Monthly food inflation was most severe in Enugu (11.90%), Kwara (9.97%), and Rivers (9.88%), whereas Borno, Sokoto, and Bayelsa all saw price declines.
Despite the overall moderation in inflation, rising food costs continue to strain many Nigerians, especially in areas where local factors are pushing prices upward at alarming rates.
