The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported a sharp rise in inflation for March 2025, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showing a month-on-month increase of 3.90%, up from 2.04% in February.
This marks a significant acceleration in the general price level, driven by higher costs across key categories such as food, transport, housing, and energy. On a year-on-year basis, food inflation stood at 21.79%, reflecting the sustained pressure on household spending, especially for low- and middle-income earners.
According to the NBS report, the increase in headline inflation is largely attributed to rising prices of items in the consumption basket, including food and non-alcoholic beverages, education, health, accommodation, and clothing. Specific food items such as fresh ginger, yellow garri, Ofada rice, natural honey, crabs, and plantain flour contributed to the surge.
Read also
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation rose to 2.18% in March from 1.67% in February, indicating continued strain on everyday staples. The core inflation rate, which excludes volatile items like farm produce and energy, climbed to 3.73% from 2.52% in February, reflecting underlying inflationary pressures.
Energy inflation saw a dramatic shift, hitting 9.21% in March after recording a negative growth of –0.99% in February, suggesting significant jumps in electricity, gas, and other fuel-related costs.
Urban areas recorded higher inflation than rural regions, with a year-on-year urban inflation rate of 26.12%, compared to 20.89% in rural areas. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation rose to 3.96%, while rural inflation reached 3.73%. The NBS noted that the higher rates in urban areas are tied to housing, transport, and service-related expenses, which disproportionately affect city dwellers and urban small businesses.
The persistent inflationary trend poses a challenge to household purchasing power and small business operating costs, with many SMEs likely to feel the impact of rising input prices and consumer price resistance.
