Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
Nigeria’s inflation rate reached 15.15% in December 2025, up from 14.45% in November 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Thursday.
The Bureau noted that the December figure was calculated using a new rebased Consumer Price Index (CPI) with a base year of 2024 and a weight reference period of 2023. According to NBS, sub-indexes were derived using a 12-month reference period, where the average CPI for all twelve months of 2024 is set to 100. “This differs from the single-month index method, where December 2024 alone is set to 100,” the Bureau clarified.
The CPI rose to 131.2 in December, reflecting a 0.7-point increase from November 2025. The Bureau identified food and non-alcoholic beverages as the primary contributors to the headline inflation.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation was 0.54% in December 2025, down from 1.22% in November 2025. Food inflation stood at 10.84% year-on-year, while the month-on-month food inflation rate recorded -0.36%, a decrease from 1.13% in November 2025, largely due to falling prices of tomatoes, garri, eggs, potatoes, carrots, millet, vegetables, plantain, beans, wheat grain, ground pepper, and onions.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 18.63% year-on-year in December 2025, while month-on-month core inflation was 0.58%, down from 1.28% in November 2025.
Inflation trends varied across states. On a year-on-year basis, the highest headline inflation rates were recorded in Abia (19.03%), Ogun (18.80%), and Katsina (18.66%), while Sokoto (8.61%), Plateau (9.05%), and Kaduna (10.38%) had the lowest increases. Month-on-month, Cross River (3.11%), Abia (2.63%), and Delta (2.53%) saw the highest rises, whereas Ondo (-3.74%), Gombe (-3.02%), and Jigawa (-1.96%) experienced declines.
For food inflation year-on-year, the highest rates were in Yobe (15.25%), Ogun (14.12%), and Abuja (13.24%), while Akwa Ibom (4.34%), Sokoto (4.62%), and Plateau (6.19%) recorded the slowest increases. Month-on-month, Imo (3.19%), Nasarawa (3.16%), and Yobe (1.18%) led the rise in food inflation, while Plateau (-2.76%), Rivers (-2.50%), and Zamfara (-1.93%) saw decreases.
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