By OKEOGHENE AKUBUIKE

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says Nigeria?s headline inflation rate eased further to 16.05 per cent in October.

The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for October, which was released in Abuja on Monday.

According to the report, the headline inflation showed a decrease to 1.96 per cent compared to the 18.02 per cent recorded in September.

The report said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 17.82 per cent lower than the rate recorded in October 2024 at 33.88 per cent.

Furthermore, the report said ?on a month-on-month?, the headline inflation rate in October was 0.93 per cent, which was 0.21 per cent higher than the rate recorded in September at 0.72 per cent.

?This means that in October 2025, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in September 2025.?

The report said the increase in the headline index for October was attributed to the increase in some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level.

It said the three major contributors to the headline inflation year on year were Food and non-alcoholic Beverages at 6.42 per cent, Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 2.07 per cent, and Transport at 1.71 per cent.

The report showed the least contributors were Recreation, Sport, and Culture at 0.05 per cent, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics at 0.06 per cent, and Insurance and Financial Services at 0.08 per cent.

The report said the food inflation rate in October was 13.12 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 26.04 percentage points lower compared to the rate recorded in October 2024 at 39.16 per cent.

?The significant decline in the annual food inflation figure is technically due to the change in the base year.?

It said on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in October was -0.37 per cent, which increased by 1.27 per cent compared to the 1.57 per cent recorded in September.

The NBS said the increase in food inflation on a month- on-month basis was attributed to the increase in average prices of items such as Onions (fresh), Fruits (Orange, Pineapple).

Others are; Shrimp, Groundnut (Unshelled), Vegetable (Ugu, Okazi, leaf,) and Meat (Goatmeat, Cow tail, Liver), among others.

The report said that ?all items less farm produce and energy?? or core inflation, which excluded the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 18.69 per cent in October 2025, on a year-on-year basis.

?On a month-on-month basis, the Core Inflation rate was 1.416 per cent in October, which decreased by 0.01 per cent compared to the 1.417 per cent recorded in September 2025.?

The report said that on a year-on-year basis in October, the urban inflation rate was 15.65 per cent, which was 20.73 per cent points lower than 36.38 per cent in October 2024.

?On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.14 per cent, which increased by 0.4 per cent compared to September at 0.74 per cent.?

The report said that in October the rural inflation rate was 15.86 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 15.73 percentage points lower than the 31.59 per cent in October 2024.

?On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 0.45 per cent, which decreased by 0.22 per cent compared to September at 0.67 per cent.?

On states? profile analysis, the report showed that in October, the all-items index inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Ekiti at 20.14 per cent, followed by Nassarawa at 18.97 per cent and Zamfara at 18.81 per cent.

It said the slowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Bauchi at 9.99 per cent, followed by Anambra at 11.72 per cent, and Gombe at 11.73 per cent.

The report, however, said that in October, the inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was highest in Niger at 4.90 per cent, followed by Anambra at 4.90 per cent, and Enugu at 4.75 per cent.

?Edo at -4.00 per cent, followed by Katsina at -3.26 per cent and Adamawa at -3.10 per cent recorded the slowest rise in month-on-month inflation.?

The report said on a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Ogun at 20.85 per cent, followed by Nassarawa at 19.96 per cent, and Ekiti at 19.70 per cent.

?Akwa Ibom at 3.98 per cent, followed by Katsina at 4.15 per cent and Yobe at 4.29 per cent recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.?

The report, however, said on a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Bauchi at 6.77 per cent, followed by Abuja at 5.11 per cent, and Niger at 4.84 per cent.

?Katsina at -7.72 per cent, followed by Oyo at -5.89 per cent and Taraba at -4.89 per cent, recorded the slowest rise in inflation on a month-on-month basis.?

The NBS said that based on the recent rebasing of the CPI, it rose to 128.9 in October, which reflected a 1.2 percentage point increase from the 127.7 recorded in September.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the NBS recently rebased the CPI, bringing the base year closer to the current period, from 2009 to 2024, with 2023 as the reference period for expenditure weights. (NAN)

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