Nigeria’s Inflation Falls for Fifth Time to 20.12% in August 2025

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 20.12 per cent in August 2025, marking a fifth straight month of decline, from the 21.88 per cent recorded in July 2025.

This is according to the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation stood at 0.74 per cent in August, reflecting a moderation compared to previous months.

Food inflation rose by 1.65 per cent month-on-month, underscoring persistent pressures in the prices of staple items despite the overall slowdown in inflation.

The development is lower than analysts expectations, although they agreed that trends indicate that the country will continue to see cooling inflation.

Analysts at Afrinvest West Africa had projected that Nigeria’s headline inflation will ease further to 21.3 per cent year-on-year in August 2025, supported by foreign exchange (FX) stability, early harvest inflows, and relatively subdued global commodity prices.

However, they cautioned that persistent food supply constraints and seasonal factors are likely to sustain upward pressure on monthly inflation.

The firm noted that Nigeria’s inflation trajectory has shown signs of moderation, with the headline rate easing for the fourth consecutive month in July.

The figure slowed to 21.9 per cent year-on-year from 22.2 per cent in June, broadly in line with Afrinvest’s forecast of 21.6 per cent.

The decline was largely attributed to a softer core inflation reading, which dropped to 21.4 per cent y/y in July from 22.4 per cent the previous month.