Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s headline inflation rate decreased to 16.05% in October, down from 18.02% in September 2025.
It also reported that the figure decreased by 1.96 per cent compared to the September 2025 headline inflation rate.
From the report, the food inflation rate in October 2025 was 13.12% compared to the same month in the previous year. This was 26.04 percentage points lower compared to the rate recorded in October 2024 (39.16%).
This significant dip in the annual food inflation figure is technically due to the change in the base year.
However, compared on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in October 2025 was -0.37 per cent, up by 1.21 per cent compared to September 2025 (-1.57 per cent).
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 17.82 per cent lower than the rate recorded in October 2024 (33.88 per cent).
This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in October 2025 compared to October 2024, though with a different base year, November 2009 = 100.
On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in October 2025 was 0.93 per cent, which was 0.21 per cent higher than the rate recorded in September 2025 (0.72 per cent).
This means that in October 2025, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in September 2025.
The percentage change in the average price index for the 12 months ending October 2025 over the average for the previous 12-month period was 22.02 per cent, showing a 10.24 per cent decrease compared to 32.26 per cent recorded in October 2024.
On a year-on-year basis, in October 2025, the urban inflation rate was 15.65 per cent, showing 20.73 percent of points lower compared to the 36.38 per cent recorded in October 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.14 per cent in October 2025, up by 0.4 per cent compared to September 2025 (0.74 percent).
The corresponding twelve-month average for the Urban inflation rate was 22.68 per cent in October 2025. This was 11.84 per cent of points lower compared to the 34.52 per cent reported in October 2024.
NBS put the rural inflation rate in October 2025 at 15.86 per cent on a year-on-year basis. This was 15.73 per cent of points lower compared to the 31.59 per cent recorded in October 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in October 2025 was 0.45 per cent, down by 0.22 per cent compared to September 2025 (0.67 per cent).
The corresponding 12-month average for the rural inflation rate in October 2025 was 20.81 per cent.
This was 9.42 per cent points lower compared to the 30.24 per cent recorded in October 2024.
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