Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Rises Again, Data Shows States With Highest Pressure
- New data from the National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that inflation rates continue to rise in March
- The data from NBS revealed that Kaduna state tops the list with an all-items inflation figure of 33.33% in February
- While for food inflation, the highest was in Oyo with a figure of 34.41%, as Nigerians face more pressure
Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of business journalism experience with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.
The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that Nigeria's headline inflation rate, which measures the cost of goods and services over a period, rose to 24.23%, compared to 23.18% in February 2025.
This represents an increase of 1.05% in the headline inflation rate from February 2025.
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The NBS disclosed this in its consumer price index (CPI) report released for March 2024 on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
Details of the NBS inflation report
According to NBS, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in March 2025 was 3.90%, which is 1.85% higher than the rate recorded in February 2025 (2.04%).
This indicates that the rate of increase in the average price level was higher in March 2025 than in February 2025, Punch reports.
Urban inflation
On a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate stood at 26.12% in March 2025. On a month-on-month basis, it was 3.96%, representing an increase of 1.56 percentage points compared to the 2.40% recorded in February 2025.
Rural inflation
The rural inflation rate in March 2025 was 20.89% on a year-on-year basis. Month-on-month, the rural inflation rate stood at 3.73%, marking a 2.57 percentage point increase from the 1.16% recorded in February 2025.
Food Inflation rises
The food inflation rate in March 2025 was 21.79% on a year-on-year basis. However, on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in March 2025 was 2.18%, up by 0.50 percentage points compared to February 2025 (1.67%).
The report reads:
The increase can be attributed to the rise in average prices of ginger (fresh), garri (yellow), broken rice (Ofada), honey (natural production), crabs, potatoes, plantain flour, periwinkle (unshelled), pepper (fresh), and other items."
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State analysis
For the state breakdown, the report stated:
"In March 2025, the all items inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kaduna (33.33%), Osun (32.08%), and Kebbi (30.74%), while Akwa Ibom (12.81%), Bayelsa (14.02%), and Sokoto (14.83%) recorded the lowest increases in headline inflation year-on-year.
On a month-on-month basis, the highest increases were recorded in Kaduna (18.85%), Osun (16.49%), and Oyo (14.44%), while Sokoto (-8.66%), Nasarawa (-4.38%), and Kwara (-3.69%) recorded the lowest changes in month-on-month inflation."
For state food inflation, the report noted:
"In March 2025, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Oyo (34.41%), Kaduna (31.14%), and Kebbi (30.85%), while Bayelsa (9.61%), Adamawa (12.41%), and Akwa Ibom (12.60%) recorded the slowest increases in food inflation year-on-year.
"On a month-on-month basis, however, food inflation in March 2025 was highest in Oyo (19.74%), Kaduna (17.24%), and Kebbi (14.03%), while Sokoto (-14.10%), Nasarawa (-9.91%), and Edo (-5.78%) recorded declines in food inflation."
No more N85k per 50kg of rice as sellers crash rice prices
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the price of rice, a staple food, has crashed again after rising in March to over N80,000 per 50kg bag.
Sellers reduced the commodity price from N85,000 per 50kg bag to N65,000 as of Sunday, April 13, 2025.
The first time the commodity sold below N70,000 per 50kg bag was in February this year when the dealers had reported another influx.
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Source: Legit.ng
