Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell for the seventh consecutive month in October 2025, dropping to 16.05%, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
This is the lowest reading since March 2022, down from 18.02% year-on-year in September.
The decline places Africa’s most populous nation alongside Ghana, Angola, and Zambia, which also recorded lower inflation in October.
Ghana’s inflation eased for the tenth consecutive month to 8.0%, the lowest in four years, while Angola’s annual inflation slowed to 17.4%, its lowest since October 2023. Zambia’s inflation fell to 11.9%, the lowest reading since August 2023.
Food inflation, the largest component of the CPI basket, continued its downward trend, falling to 13.12% from 16.87% in September. On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.9% in October, compared with a 0.7% increase in September.
The moderation in food prices was driven by falling costs for onions, oranges, pineapples, shrimp, unshelled groundnuts, vegetables (ugu, okazi leaf), and various meats including goat, cow tail, and liver.
Analysts had expected the trend. Lagos-based Cowry Assets Management projected that headline inflation would ease to 17.8%, citing “continued naira stability, improved foreign exchange liquidity, and sustained food supply from the harvest season.”
Similarly, United Capital, in its Inflation Watch, forecast a decline to 16.30%, noting that falling food prices and a stronger naira would offset some upward pressure from rising energy costs.
The decline in inflation comes after the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cut the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 50 basis points to 27% in September, marking the first rate reduction in five years.
The move reflected a shift from one of the most aggressive tightening cycles in recent history and was broadly aligned with market expectations.
The next MPC meeting is scheduled for November 24–25, 2025, where policymakers are expected to review the impact of the current easing on inflation and economic recovery.
