According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), food inflation jumped to 21.79 percent year over year in March 2025, exacerbating Nigeria’s cost of living crisis.
The NBS stated in a report yesterday that the price increases of basic necessities like rice, fresh produce, and garri are to blame for the inflation. According to month-over-month data, food inflation increased to 2.18 percent from 1.67 percent in February.
The increase in food inflation caused the headline inflation rate in March 2025 to rise to 24.23 percent, higher than the headline inflation rate of 23.18 percent in February 2025. The headline inflation rate for March was 1.05 percent higher than the headline inflation rate for February 2025.
The NBS added that seasonal shortages, supply problems, and rising transportation costs caused prices for fresh ginger, yellow garri, Ofada rice, natural honey, crabs, potatoes, plantain flour, and fresh pepper to spike by double digits.
Food inflation differed by state, according to NBS data. While Bayelsa (9.61%), Adamawa (12.41%), and Akwa Ibom (12.60%) saw slower increases, Oyo State (34.41%), Kaduna (31.14%), and Kebbi (30.85%) saw the largest increases on an annual basis.
Also, the month-on-month data revealed Kaduna (18.85%), Osun (16.49%), and Oyo (14.44%) saw a price surge, while Sokoto (-14.10%), Nasarawa (-9.91%) and Edo (-5.78%) experienced reduction n food inflation.
The NBS attributed these declines to state-sponsored subsidy programs and regional harvests.
According to the NBS, the consumer price index (CPI), which is used to analyze changes in food prices, is weighted by patterns of consumption expenditure that differ between states and regions.
According to the body, interstate comparisons of consumption baskets are not advised and may be deceptive because the weights assigned to specific foods and non-food items vary from state to state.
