By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Correspondent
HEADLINE INFLATION dropped for a third consecutive month in June, falling to 22.22 percent from 22.97 percent in May, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The latest data, released through the agency’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, reflects adjustments made in the country’s inflation tracking methodology following the rebasing of its CPI framework.
Food inflation also eased year-on-year, standing at 21.97 percent in June 2025, significantly lower than the 40.87 percent recorded in June 2024.
This notable drop is attributed to the newly adopted base year of 2024, which replaced the former 2009 benchmark.
On a month-on-month basis, however, food inflation rose to 3.25 percent in June, an increase from 2.19 percent in May.
This was driven by higher average prices for essential food items including dried green peas, fresh pepper, crayfish, fresh meat, tomatoes, plantain flour, and ground pepper.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 22.76 percent year-on-year.
The headline inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was 11.97 percentage points lower than the 34.19 percent recorded in June 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation increased to 1.68 percent in June 2025, up from 1.53 percent in the previous month, indicating a higher rate of price increase between May and June.
The NBS also explained that the CPI rebasing reflects updated consumption patterns and includes 934 product varieties classified into 13 divisions under the COICOP 2018 framework.
The rebased system ensures a more accurate reflection of economic trends through indices such as the Urban and Rural National Indexes, Headline Index, Food Index, Core Index, Energy Index, and various others.
The weight reference period is now 2023, while the price reference period is 2024.
Across Nigeria, food inflation varied significantly.
Year-on-year, Borno (47.40 percent), Ebonyi (30.62 percent), and Bayelsa (28.64 percent) recorded the highest food inflation rates. Conversely, Katsina (6.21 percent), Adamawa (10.90 percent), and Sokoto (15.25 percent) saw the slowest increases.
On a month-to-month basis, Enugu (11.90 percent), Kwara (9.97 percent), and Rivers (9.88 percent) posted the highest monthly food inflation, while Borno (-7.63 percent), Sokoto (-6.43 percent), and Bayelsa (-6.34 percent) recorded declines.
The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending June 2025 was 28.28 percent, marking a 7.02 percentage point decrease compared with the 35.3 percent average recorded in June 2024.
The CPI rebasing, now fully implemented, aims to enhance Nigeria’s inflation data accuracy and support more informed economic policy decisions.
