Nigeria’s inflation rate eases in February

Nigeria’s annual inflation price eased to 23.18 per cent in February from 24.48 per cent in January 2025, the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS) mentioned on Monday.

The statistics workplace mentioned the February 2025 headline inflation price confirmed a lower of 1.30 per cent in comparison with the January 2025 headline inflation price.

On a year-on-year foundation, the headline inflation price was 8.52 per cent decrease than the speed recorded in February 2024 (31.70 per cent).

This, it mentioned, reveals that the Headline inflation price (year-on-year foundation) decreased in February 2025 in comparison with the identical month within the previous 12 months (i.e., February 2024), although with a special base 12 months, November 2009 = 100.

The NBS mentioned that, on a month-on-month foundation, the headline inflation price in February 2025 stood at 2.04 per cent.

Nigeria has skilled a pointy enhance in meals costs in recent times. This development worsened in 2023 following President Bola Tinubu’s removing of petrol subsidies and adopting a floating alternate price for the naira.

This shift has led to a steep enhance in the price of staple meals, pushing many Nigerians additional into poverty and heightening meals insecurity.

The persistent worth surge over the previous 12 months has led to a number of farms and companies closing, with many agricultural producers scaling again their output resulting from insecurity and unpredictable climate circumstances affecting rural areas.

In response, Mr Tinubu declared a state of emergency on meals insecurity in July 2023, aiming to fight rising meals prices. Regardless of these efforts, on the time, meals inflation has continued unabated.

In July final 12 months, Mr Tinubu unveiled some proactive measures to handle skyrocketing meals costs within the nation. Amongst these is the choice to droop duties, tariffs, and taxes on importing important meals objects corresponding to beans, wheat, and husked brown rice.

Final month, the NBS mentioned Nigeria’s annual inflation price dropped to 24.48 per cent in January from 34.80 per cent in December 2024 after rebasing.

Breakdown

In its inflation report Monday, the NBS mentioned the contributions of things on the divisional year-on-year stage to the rise within the headline index are meals & non-alcoholic drinks (9.28 per cent), eating places and lodging providers (2.99 per cent), transport (2.47 per cent), housing, water, electrical energy, fuel & different gas (1.95 per cent), training providers (1.44 per cent), well being (1.40 per cent), clothes & footwear (1.17 per cent).

Others are info and communication (0.76 per cent), private care, social safety, and miscellaneous items and providers (0.76 per cent), furnishing, family gear, and routine family upkeep (0.69 per cent), insurance coverage and monetary providers (0.11 per cent), alcoholic beverage, tobacco and narcotics (0.09 per cent) and recreation, sport and tradition (0.07 per cent).

The share change within the common CPI for the twelve months ending February 2025 over the common for the earlier twelve-month interval was 30.09 per cent, exhibiting a 3.91 per cent level enhance in comparison with 26.18 per cent recorded in February 2024.

Meals inflation

The NBS mentioned the meals inflation price in February 2025 was 23.51 per cent on a year-on-year foundation. This was 14.41 per cent decrease in comparison with the speed recorded in February 2024 (37.92 per cent).

It mentioned the numerous decline within the meals inflation determine is technically because of the change within the base 12 months.

Nonetheless, it mentioned, on a month-on-month foundation, the Meals inflation price in February 2025 was 1.67 per cent.

“In comparison with the month of January 2025, there was an noticed decline within the common costs of meals objects like Yam tuber, Potatoes, Soya beans, Flour of maize/cornmeal, Cassava, Bambara beans (Dried), and so on.

“The typical annual price of Meals inflation for the twelve months ending February 2025 over the earlier twelve-month common was 34.74 per cent, which was 4.67 per cent factors increased in contrast with the common annual price of change recorded in February 2024 (30.07 per cent),” the NBS mentioned.