Nigeria’s headline Inflation eases to 21.88% in July

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 21.88% in July 2025, down slightly from 22.22% in June 2025, signaling a modest cooling in price pressures across the country.

According to the NBS, “The July 2025 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.34% compared to the June 2025 rate,” reflecting a continued moderation in consumer price growth over the year.

On a longer-term basis, the report noted, “The Headline inflation rate was 11.52% lower than the rate recorded in July 2024 (33.40%),” demonstrating a significant easing compared to the same period last year.

However, short-term monthly trends indicated slightly higher price increases.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in July 2025 was 1.99%, which was 0.31% higher than June 2025 (1.68%),” the bureau explained, highlighting that despite falling annual inflation, consumers still face incremental monthly price rises.

The NBS also analysed urban and rural inflation separately.

In urban centres, “The year-on-year inflation rate was 22.01%, down from 35.77% in July 2024, while the month-on-month rate fell slightly to 1.86% from June’s 2.11%.”

The twelve-month average for urban inflation was 27.04%, 5.85 percentage points lower than July 2024.

Rural areas showed mixed trends. “The Rural inflation rate was 21.08% year-on-year, 10.17 percentage points lower than July 2024,” the NBS reported.

Yet, “the month-on-month rural rate rose to 2.30% in July 2025 from 0.63% in June 2025,” indicating rising short-term price pressures in rural regions. The twelve-month average for rural inflation was 23.84%, down 5.02 percentage points from July 2024.

The NBS stressed that while annual headline inflation is showing encouraging signs of moderation, consumers may still experience short-term price fluctuations, particularly in rural areas where monthly inflation remains elevated.