The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says in February 2025, the Headline inflation rate eased to 23.18% relative to the January 2025 headline inflation rate of 24.48%.
NBS, in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday said the February 2025 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.30% compared to the January 2025 Headline inflation rate.
The Bureau said, on a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 8.52% lower than the rate recorded in February 2024 (31.70%).
This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in February 2025 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., February 2024), though with a different base year, November 2009 = 100.
On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in February 2025 stood at 2.04%.
The Bureau attributed the decrease in the headline index for for February 2025 to the decline in the average price of some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level.
These decreases, according to NBS, were observed in Food and non-alcoholic Beverages (9.28%), Restaurants and Accommodation Services (2.99%), Transport (2.47%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & other Fuel (1.95), Education Services (1.44%), Health (1.40%), Clothing & Footwear (1.17%), Information and Communications (0.76%), Personal Care, Social Protection, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (0.76%), Furnishings & Household Equipment and maintenance (0.69%), Insurance and Finance Services (0.11%), Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco & Kola (0.09%), and Recreation, Sport & Culture (0.07%).
NBS said the percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending February 2025 over the aver-age for the previous twelve-month period was 30.09%, showing 3.91% points increase compared to 26.18% recorded in February 2024.
It said, the Food inflation rate in February 2025 was 23.51% on a year-on-year basis. This was 14.41% lower compared to the rate recorded in February 2024 (37.92%).
The significant decline in the food inflation figure, according to the Bureau, is technically due to the change in the base year. However, on a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in February 2025 was 1.67%.
NBS said, compared to the month of January 2025, there was an observed decline in the average prices of food items like Yam tuber, Potatoes, Soya beans, Flour of maize/cornmeal, Cassava, Bambara beans (Dried), etc.
It said, the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending February 2025 over the previous twelve-month average was 34.74%, which was 4.67% points higher compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in February 2024 (30.07%).
Meanwhile, the Bureau said the Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produces and energy, stood at 23.01% in February 2025 on a year-on-year basis; a decline of 2.12% points when compared to the 25.13% recorded in February 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, it said, the Core Inflation rate was 2.52% in February 2025. The average twelve-month annual inflation rate was 25.33% for the twelve months ending Feb-ruary 2025, this was 3.60% points higher than the 21.72% recorded in February 2024.
URBAN INFLATION
On a year-on-year basis, in February 2025, the Urban inflation rate was 25.15%, showing 8.51% points lower compared to the 33.66% recorded in February 2024. On a month-on-month basis, the Ur-ban inflation rate was 2.40% in February 2025. The corresponding twelve-month average for the Ur-ban inflation rate was 32.22% in February 2025. This was 4.28% points higher compared to the 27.93% reported in February 2024.
RURAL INFLATION
The Rural inflation rate in February 2025 was 19.89% on a year-on-year basis. This was 10.09% low-er than the 29.99% recorded in February 2024. On a month-on-month basis, the Rural inflation rate in February 2025 was 1.16%. The corresponding twelve-month average for the Rural inflation rate in February 2025 was 27.94%. This was 3.33% points higher compared to the 24.61% recorded in February 2024.
