Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 23.71 per cent in April 2025, a 0.52 per cent drop from the figure recorded in March 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Thursday.

But analysts say concerns around structural inflation remain, with the average annual core inflation still on the rise.

Inflation growth slowed considerably on a month-on-month basis, printing at 1.86 per cent in April compared to 3.90 per cent recorded in March, the statistical agency said.

On a year-on-year basis, NBS said the headline inflation rate dropped in April 2025 compared to the year-earlier period of April 2024, though with a different base year.

“This means that in April 2025, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in March 2025,” NBS said.

Food inflation dropped by 0.53 per cent to 21.26 per cent, as against 21.79 per cent in March 2025, driven largely by reduction in the average prices of key staples including maize flour, wheat grain, dried okra, yam flour, soya beans, rice, bambara beans, and brown beans.

On a month-on-month basis, the index eased to 2.06 per cent in April compared to 2.18 per cent in the previous month.

Similarly, core inflation, which excludes the volatile components of food and energy, dropped by 105 basis points to 23.39 per cent year-on-year in April compared to 24.43 per cent in March.

Month-on-month, core inflation dropped significant to 1.34 per cent as against 3.73 per cent the previous month.

“Analysts believe that the April 2025 inflation figure shows a broad-based easing driven by base adjustments, slowing price growth, and seasonal food supply improvements,” Proshare said in a report.

“However, with the average annual core inflation still on the rise, concerns around structural inflation remain. Policymakers will need to balance inflation with economic growth strategies, especially as we approach the second half of the year,” it said.