NBS' Inflation Numbers Come Under Questioning as Agency Reportedly Deletes Some Data

• The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the NBS has undergone some major alterations
• Checks show that the report was deleted from the website, days after it was released to the Nigerian public
• The report was later re-uploaded over the weekend but now has major historical data missing from it

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) recently released the inflation report for February 2025, showing that Headline inflation dropped from 24.48% in January to 23.18% in February 2025.

This report has been under the radar as many economists questioned both the numbers and the methodology used to arrive at the numbers.

In a surprising twist of events, the agency took down the report from the NBS website a few days after it was released.

NBS inflation report shows lower inflation

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Recall that NBS recently released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for February 2025. The report stated that the food inflation rate in February 2025 was 23.51% on a year-on-year basis.

This was 14.41% lower than the inflation rate of 37.92% recorded in February 2024, triggering heated reactions that the sharp decline in the numbers did not reflect the reality in the country.

Some insisted that the decline was only so because of the change in base year from 2014 to 2024.

The sudden removal of the report from the website raised eyebrows over the accuracy of the report, or reasons that could have warranted removing the report.

As of Monday, March 24, 2025, the inflation report had been reuploaded to the website. However, key historical data are missing.

According to TheCable Index, the initial report had historical Consumer Price Index (CPI) data all the way back to 2025. However, the new report completely wiped off all that data leaving only the numbers for January and February 2025.

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NBS Crime Perception report deleted after hack

Similarly, the NBS Crime experience and security perception survey report went missing from the website, a month after it was released.

Recall that the NBS website was hacked in December 2024, shortly after the release of the controversial crime perception survey report that generated lots of interest.

The report contained data that stimulated public interest, including data on how much Nigerians paid in ransoms over a 12-month period.

When the website came back up a month later, the report was noticeably missing.

States with the highest food inflation

In related news, the recently released CPI report gave critical insight into the current state of food inflation across Nigeria.

According to the report, Sokoto state has the highest with 38.3%, and Edo state follows with 35.1%.

Nasarawa, Abia, Enugu and Imo states also trail behind at 33.5%, 31.9%, 31.6% and 29%. Also in the list are Gombe (28.5%), Zamfara (28.2%), Ebonyi (28.1%) and Kwara (27.2%).

Source: Legit.ng