Nigeria’s headline inflation rate slowed further in November 2025, as consumer price pressures moderated under the new base year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS report indicated that the CPI rose to 130.5 points in November from 128.9 points in October, reflecting a 1.6-point month-on-month increase. Despite the rise in the index, the year-on-year headline inflation rate declined to 14.45 per cent in November 2025, down from 16.05 per cent recorded in October.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at 1.22 per cent in November, slightly higher than the 0.93 per cent recorded in October, showing that average prices still rose at a faster pace during the month despite moderation in annual inflation.
The NBS noted that headline inflation in November 2025 was 20.15 percentage points lower than the 34.60 per cent recorded in November 2024, largely reflecting the impact of the rebasing exercise, which shifted the base year from 2009 to 2024. The twelve-month average CPI for November 2025 increased by 20.41 per cent compared with the previous twelve months, showing a sharp slowdown from the 32.77 per cent recorded in November 2024.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to year-on-year headline inflation, accounting for 5.78 percentage points, followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 1.87 percentage points, and transport at 1.54 percentage points. Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels contributed 1.22 percentage points, while education and health accounted for 0.90 and 0.88 percentage points, respectively.
At the month-on-month level, food and non-alcoholic beverages drove price increases, contributing 0.49 percentage points, followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 0.16 percentage points and transport at 0.13 percentage points.
A breakdown by location showed that urban inflation stood at 13.61 per cent year-on-year in November 2025, down sharply from 37.10 per cent in November 2024. Urban month-on-month inflation slowed to 0.95 per cent from 1.14 per cent in October, while the twelve-month average urban inflation rate eased to 20.80 per cent. In contrast, rural inflation was higher at 15.15 per cent year-on-year, although still significantly lower than the 32.27 per cent recorded in November 2024. Month-on-month rural inflation accelerated to 1.88 per cent from 0.45 per cent in October, indicating stronger price pressures in rural areas during the month.
Food inflation also moderated significantly on an annual basis, standing at 11.08 per cent in November 2025, down by 28.85 percentage points from 39.93 per cent in November 2024. However, month-on-month food inflation rose to 1.13 per cent from a contraction of 0.37 per cent in October, driven by increases in items such as dried tomatoes, cassava tubers, shelled periwinkle, ground pepper, eggs, crayfish, egusi, oxtail, and fresh onions. The twelve-month average food inflation eased to 19.68 per cent from 38.67 per cent in November 2024.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 18.04 per cent year-on-year in November 2025, down from 28.75 per cent in November 2024. Month-on-month core inflation slightly eased to 1.28 per cent from 1.42 per cent, with the twelve-month average falling to 20.76 per cent. Other sub-indices showed farm produce inflation at 0.79 per cent, energy inflation at 1.08 per cent, services inflation at 1.82 per cent, and goods inflation at 0.79 per cent.
At the state level, Rivers recorded the highest year-on-year all-items inflation at 17.78 per cent, followed by Ogun at 17.65 per cent and Ekiti at 16.77 per cent. Plateau had the lowest at 9.13 per cent, alongside Kebbi at 10.32 per cent and Katsina at 10.60 per cent. Month-on-month, Bayelsa led with 6.58 per cent, followed by Gombe at 5.11 per cent and Edo at 4.45 per cent, while Plateau, Delta, and Kaduna recorded declines. For food inflation, Kogi had the highest year-on-year increase at 17.83 per cent, followed by Ogun and Rivers, while Imo, Katsina, and Akwa Ibom recorded the slowest rises.
Reacting to the figures, the organised private sector (OPS) welcomed the slowdown in inflation, noting that it would boost consumer purchasing power and support business activity. They urged the Federal Government to provide targeted credit facilities to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to ensure inclusive economic benefits.
Dr Femi Egbesola, President of the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON), said: “The Nigerian economy, particularly MSMEs, still needs support, especially access to funding through government intervention. Targeted credit facilities are critical to ensure small businesses can compete and grow.”
Leye Kupoluyi, President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), noted that the moderation in inflation would leave more money in the pockets of Nigerians, increasing consumption and supporting business activity. He attributed the easing to the fading impact of the fuel subsidy removal, stability in the petroleum market, and marginal improvement in oil prices, which encouraged foreign inflows.
Kupoluyi further highlighted that structured support for agriculture would help sustain lower food prices, while Segun Kuti-George, National Vice President of the National Association of Small-Scale Industrialists, described the slowdown as a positive signal of policy discipline.
He explained that stable inflation reduces input costs for manufacturers, improves profitability, and provides households with more predictable spending power. Dr Egbesola added that lower inflation would benefit MSMEs by improving sales, revenue predictability, and job retention, though he cautioned that deliberate government support was necessary to ensure smaller firms were not left behind as the economy stabilises.
