Nigeria’s Inflation Drops to 24.48% After CPI Rebasing – NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria’s inflation rate has decreased to 24.48% in January 2025, down from 34.8% in December 2024. This decline follows the rebasing of the consumer price index (CPI), which reflects updated economic realities.

The new inflation rate marks an 18.12% increase when compared to January 2024, which recorded a 29.9% inflation rate. The rebasing was part of a broader effort to align economic data with current realities and reflect structural changes in the Nigerian economy. The NBS had announced plans to rebase both the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and CPI in October 2024 to ensure the data is more representative.

The CPI for January 2025 stood at 110.7, leading to a headline inflation rate of 24.48% year-on-year. The increase in inflation was largely driven by sectors such as Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Restaurants and Accommodation Services, and Transport.

The Food Inflation rate for January 2025 was 26.08%, while the Core Inflation rate, which excludes farm produce and energy, stood at 22.59%. Disaggregated by location, the Urban inflation rate was 26.09%, while the Rural inflation rate was 22.15%.

In a move to enhance CPI reporting, the NBS announced that it would introduce new special indices for policymakers. These indices include the Farm Produce Index, Energy Index, Services Index, Goods Index, and Imported Food Index. While these indices will not provide year-on-year rates until 2026, they will offer month-on-month rates starting in February 2025.

According to the Statistician-General of the Federation and NBS CEO, Adeyemi Adeniran, the improved data will offer deeper insights into the Nigerian economy and help guide policy decisions moving forward.