Nigeria's food inflation rate rises for 5th consecutive month to 20.31%

Nigeria is experiencing a significant surge in food inflation, with the rate reaching 20.31% in July. This marks the fifth consecutive month of increases since March, pushing food prices to levels not seen since February 2021. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that the year-on-year food inflation rate stood at 26.2% in July 2025, highlighting a substantial jump.

The NBS report detailed that the monthly food inflation rate also saw a sharp rise, increasing by 1.82 percentage points to 5.56% in July from 3.75% in June. This escalation is linked to increased average prices for a variety of food items, including crayfish, fresh pepper, fresh onions, fresh tomatoes, rice, and beef, among others.

Geographically, food inflation varied across states. Adamawa recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation at 51.36%, followed by Katsina (30.84%) and Zamfara (30.65%). On a month-on-month basis, Adamawa again led with 17.02%, with Lagos (13.48%) and Borno (13.26%) also experiencing significant increases.

Despite the alarming rise in food costs, Nigeria's headline inflation rate has shown a slight decrease for the second consecutive month, falling to 15.43% in July from 15.91% in June. This moderation is primarily driven by a slowdown in core inflation. Monthly inflation also moderated to 1.57% in July, indicating a slower overall price increase compared to the previous month.