Food Inflation Crashes Down to 26% as NBS Releases Rebased CPI Report

• Almost three weeks into February 2025, the NBS has finally released the rebased CPI report for January 2025
• The report brings in whole new dynamics with headline inflation down to 24.48% and food inflation at 26%
• The CPI report highlights explained that the new figures are for January 2025, compared to January 2024 as the base period

Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has finally released the first rebased Consumer Price Index (CPI) report.

This new report says Nigeria’s food inflation rate in January 2025 is down to 26.08%, from the 34.8% reported for December 2024.

The headline inflation rate is also down to 24.48%, the Core inflation rate is down to 22.59% while Urban and Rural inflation rates stand at 26.09% and 22.15% respectively.

Announcing the rebased CPI report on its verified X handle, the NBS explained that the reported rates are for January 2025, compared to the base year – January 2024.

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NBS to rebase CPI and GDP

NBS had announced in January 2025 that it would rebase the Consumer Price Index and Inflation rate, with 2024 as the new base year, and 2023 as the weight reference period.

According to that announcement, the rebasing would also seek to capture areas not earlier reflected in Nigeria’s GDP calculation.

NBS disclosed this at a sensitization workshop on GDP and Consumer Price Index, CPI Rebasing organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), and noted that 2019 would be the new GDP base year.

The move generated a lot of reaction especially the decision to include illegal and hitherto hidden activities in the rebased GDP.

NBS reports special indices

The NBS post also announced new indices that have been introduced into the CPI report, with 2024 as the base period.

Farm Produce Index is pegged at 10.50%, while other items are fixed at 10.70%. Energy, Services and Imported Food Indices are 8.9%, 10.41%, and 11.47% respectively.

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Speaking to the press at a briefing in Abuja, the Statistician-General of the Federation Adeyemi Adeniran stated that the rebased CPI reflects more accurately the current inflationary pressure and consumption pattern of Nigerians.

Rebased CPI and inflation rates explained

The highlights explained that the new figures are compared to January 2024 as the base period. The report on the NBS website reads;

"The Headline inflation rate on a year-on-year basis stood at 24.48% in January 2025. This means that the general prices of goods and services in Nigeria increased by 24.48% compared to January 2024... the Food Inflation rate on a year-on-year basis stood at 26.08% in January 2025. This means that the general prices of Food items in Nigeria increased by 26.08% compared to January 2024.

Analyst at Norrenberger, Samuel Oyekanmi, told Legit.ng that the last rebasing was done in 2014, and so Nigeria was due to have another rebasing as buying patterns have changed in line with new realities. He said;

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"Over the years, we said that we spend 54 to 56% of household income on food. But that has changed over time. Where Nigerians spend their money has now changed based on their purchasing power and other new emerging areas. We also need new numbers to capture how much Nigerians now spend on things like data, which was barely captured in the last rebasing. Hopefully, this should give us a more realistic picture."

Expert explains GDP rebasing

In related news, an expert detailed how the rebasing helps to provide more updated information across industries.

He noted that the National Bureau of Statistics included illegal and hidden activities in its rebased GDP to glean proper insights into those spaces and be able to answer questions about the value and volume of financial transactions in those industries.

He added that the NBS is not a law enforcement agency, so, it has no decision over what will be done with the statistics provided.

Source: Legit.ng