Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell to 20.12 per cent in August 2025, down from 21.88 per cent in July, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS reported a 1.76 per cent drop compared with July’s headline inflation rate. It added that August’s month-on-month headline inflation stood at 0.74 per cent, while food inflation rose by 1.65 per cent on a monthly basis.
Year-on-year, the rate was 12.03 per cent lower than the 32.15 per cent recorded in August 2024. The bureau explained that the decline reflected a different base year (November 2009 = 100).
On a month-to-month basis, August’s 0.74 per cent headline inflation was 1.25 per cent lower than July’s 1.99 per cent, indicating a slower rise in average price levels. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed to 126.8 in August from 125.9 in July.
Calls have intensified for the Federal Government to introduce measures to cushion the impact of the rising cost of living.
In August, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, urged the government to set up social safety nets for Nigerians hardest hit by economic reforms.
She praised President Bola Tinubu’s administration for stabilising the economy, noting that reforms had moved in the right direction. “The next step is growth. We must grow the economy and establish social safety nets so that those struggling under the reforms receive support,” she said after meeting the President.