Business
BREAKING: Nigeria’s Headline Inflation Drops To 14.45% [Details]
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased further in November 2025, dropping to 14.45 per cent year on year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The report, published on the NBS website on Monday, showed that while consumer prices continued to rise every month, annual inflation moderated significantly under the new base year.
According to the NBS, the Consumer Price Index increased to 130.5 points in November 2025 from 128.9 points in October, representing a 1.6-point rise month on month.
“The Consumer Price Index rose to 130.5 in November 2025, reflecting a 1.6-point increase from the preceding month (128.9),” the bureau stated.
However, the headline inflation rate declined to 14.45 per cent year on year, compared with 16.05 per cent recorded in October 2025.
“In November 2025, the Headline inflation rate eased to 14.45 per cent relative to the October 2025 headline inflation rate of 16.05 per cent.
“Looking at the movement, the November 2025 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.6 per cent compared to the October 2025 Headline inflation rate,” the report added.
Monthly Inflation Still Rises
Naija News understands that on a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at 1.22 per cent in November, higher than the 0.93 per cent recorded in October, indicating that average prices increased at a faster pace during the month despite the moderation in annual inflation.
The NBS noted that headline inflation in November 2025 was 20.15 percentage points lower than the 34.60 per cent recorded in November 2024, largely reflecting the impact of the rebasing exercise, with the new base year set at 2024 instead of 2009.
Data from the report showed that the average CPI for the twelve months ending November 2025 rose by 20.41 per cent compared with the average of the preceding twelve months, a sharp slowdown from the 32.77 per cent recorded in November 2024.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to headline inflation on a year-on-year basis, accounting for 5.78 percentage points. This was followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 1.87 percentage points and transport at 1.54 percentage points.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 1.22 percentage points, while education services and health accounted for 0.90 and 0.88 percentage points, respectively.
At the month-on-month level, food and non-alcoholic beverages also drove price increases, contributing 0.49 percentage points, followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 0.16 percentage points and transport at 0.13 percentage points.
Urban Inflation Drops Sharply
A breakdown by location showed that urban inflation stood at 13.61 per cent year on year in November 2025, a decline of 23.49 percentage points from the 37.10 per cent recorded in November 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation slowed to 0.95 per cent from 1.14 per cent in October, while the twelve-month average urban inflation rate eased to 20.80 per cent.
In contrast, rural inflation was higher at 15.15 per cent year on year in November, although this was still 17.12 percentage points lower than the 32.27 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
Month-on-month rural inflation, however, accelerated sharply to 1.88 per cent from 0.45 per cent in October, reflecting stronger price pressures in rural areas during the month.
Food Inflation Moderates Annually
Food inflation also moderated significantly on an annual basis. The NBS reported that food inflation stood at 11.08 per cent year on year in November 2025, down by 28.85 percentage points from the 39.93 per cent recorded in November 2024.
However, month-on-month food inflation rose to 1.13 per cent from a contraction of 0.37 per cent in October.
The increase was driven by higher prices of items such as dried tomatoes, cassava tubers, shelled periwinkle, ground pepper, eggs, crayfish, egusi, oxtail and fresh onions.
The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending November 2025 was 19.68 per cent, compared with 38.67 per cent in the same period of 2024.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 18.04 per cent year on year in November 2025, down from 28.75 per cent in November 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation eased slightly to 1.28 per cent from 1.42 per cent in October, while the twelve-month average core inflation rate fell to 20.76 per cent.
Other sub-indices showed that farm produce inflation rose to 0.79 per cent in November from zero per cent in October, while energy inflation increased to 1.08 per cent from 0.50 per cent.
Services inflation rose to 1.82 per cent from 1.54 per cent, and goods inflation increased to 0.79 per cent from 0.63 per cent in the previous month.
States’ Inflation Picture
At the state level, Rivers recorded the highest year-on-year all-items inflation rate at 17.78 per cent, followed by Ogun at 17.65 per cent and Ekiti at 16.77 per cent.
Plateau recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation rate at 9.13 per cent, alongside Kebbi at 10.32 per cent and Katsina at 10.60 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, Bayelsa recorded the highest increase at 6.58 per cent, followed by Gombe at 5.11 per cent and Edo at 4.45 per cent, while Plateau, Delta and Kaduna recorded declines.
Food inflation data showed that Kogi recorded the highest year-on-year increase at 17.83 per cent, followed by Ogun at 16.52 per cent and Rivers at 16.11 per cent.
Imo, Katsina and Akwa Ibom recorded the slowest rise in food prices on a year-on-year basis. Month-on-month food inflation was highest in Yobe at 9.52 per cent, followed by Katsina at 6.61 per cent and Ondo at 6.04 per cent, while Imo, Nasarawa and Enugu recorded declines.
The NBS cautioned that interstate comparisons should be interpreted carefully, noting that CPI weights differ across states based on consumption patterns, which could make direct comparisons of inflation baskets misleading.
Business
Oil Exports Drive Nigeria’s Current Account Surplus To $4.98bn
Nigeria’s current account surplus rose sharply by 255.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $4.98bn in the first quarter of 2026, driven by higher crude oil, gas and refined petroleum exports, as well as a steep decline in petroleum product imports, according to the latest Balance of Payments report released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday.
The apex bank, in its Q1 2026 Balance of Payments Highlights, stated that “provisional balance of payments statistics for Q1 2026 show a current account surplus of $4.98bn, which was higher than the $1.40bn and $3.41bn recorded in the preceding quarter (Q4 2025) and corresponding period (Q1 2025), respectively.”
The report showed that the current account surplus expanded by 255.71 per cent from the $1.40bn recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025 and was 46.04 per cent higher than the $3.41bn surplus posted in the corresponding period of 2025.
According to the CBN, the improvement was supported by increased earnings from crude oil exports, gas exports and refined petroleum product exports, alongside a significant reduction in refined petroleum product imports and lower net out-payments on the primary income account.
A breakdown of the external sector data showed that the goods account, which is the largest component of the current account, recorded a surplus of $5.95bn in Q1 2026, compared with $1.77bn in Q4 2025 and $3.35bn in Q1 2025.
The CBN said, “The goods account (a major sub-account in the current account) recorded a significantly higher surplus of $5.95bn in Q1 2026, as against $1.77bn and $3.35bn recorded in the preceding quarter and corresponding period of 2025.”
The stronger goods account position was underpinned by a rise in total exports to $15.49bn from $13.36bn in the previous quarter, largely due to higher crude oil and gas exports. Meanwhile, total imports fell to $9.54bn from $11.59bn, reflecting lower imports of refined petroleum products and non-oil goods.
Crude oil exports increased by 19.79 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $8.11bn, while gas exports rose by 12.95 per cent to $2.53bn. Refined petroleum product exports jumped by 20.3 per cent to $2.37bn. Non-oil exports also improved marginally by 4.62 per cent to $2.49bn.
On the import side, non-oil imports declined by 10.49 per cent to $7.85bn, while refined petroleum product imports dropped sharply to $0.31bn from $2.48bn. However, crude oil imports rose to $1.39bn from $0.34bn recorded in Q4 2025.
The report also showed mixed performances across other current account components. Net out-payments on services increased to $3.71bn from $3.32bn, driven largely by higher net debits in travel and other business services.
“The increase in net out-payments for services was largely due to increases in net debits in travel and other business services,” the bank stated.
The primary income deficit narrowed to $2.83bn from $3.27bn in the preceding quarter, reflecting lower dividend and interest payments to foreign investors. According to the report, “This was largely attributable to a decrease in out-payments (dividend and interest) to non-residents’ investments, mostly to direct investors.”
The secondary income account surplus, which largely captures remittance inflows, declined to $5.57bn from $6.21bn. Personal transfers from Nigerians in the diaspora fell to $5.30bn from $5.72bn in Q4 2025.
Despite the stronger current account position, the financial account remained in a net borrowing position. The report showed that net borrowing increased to $2.51bn in Q1 2026 from $1.96bn in the previous quarter.
Portfolio investment inflows strengthened during the period, rising to $6.03bn from $5.27bn in Q4 2025, while direct investment inflows moderated slightly to $1.03bn from $1.11bn. Nigerian investments abroad recorded outflows of $0.20bn under direct investment assets and $0.26bn under portfolio assets.
The CBN attributed developments in the financial account to increased portfolio investment inflows, a marginal decline in direct investment inflows, accretion to external reserves, and increased acquisition of portfolio investment assets abroad by residents.
Further analysis of the balance of payments data showed that Nigeria recorded an overall balance of payments surplus of $2.38bn in Q1 2026, lower than the $2.67bn surplus achieved in Q4 2025. The stock of external reserves, however, rose significantly to $48.35bn at the end of March 2026 from $45.75bn at the end of December 2025.
The report also highlighted a deterioration in net errors and omissions, which widened to negative $7.49bn in Q1 2026 from negative $3.36bn in the preceding quarter.
The latest figures indicate that improvements in oil production, rising petroleum exports and reduced dependence on imported fuel continued to strengthen Nigeria’s external position during the first quarter, helping to offset weaker remittance inflows and higher service-related outflows.
Business
FG Releases Barely 5% Of N54.93tn Three-Year Road Budget
The Federal Government has released about N2.68tn for the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of roads and bridges across the country between 2023 and April 2026, findings by The PUNCH from the Open Treasury Portal have shown.
The analysis, however, revealed a significant disparity between approved budgets and actual releases, with the government making provisions totalling N54.93tn for road-related projects within the period under review.
The figures highlight both the growing emphasis on infrastructure development and the persistent financing constraints that continue to affect capital project execution in the country.
The development also comes amid the ongoing Renewed Hope Media Tour organised by the Presidential Communications Team, designed to showcase projects being implemented under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Data obtained from the Open Treasury Portal on Tuesday showed that road projects attracted a combined budgetary allocation of N2.53tn in 2023, out of which N631.51bn was released, representing an implementation rate of 24.95 per cent.
The Treasury data, however, did not specify the road projects to which the funds were released and did not indicate whether the government’s four legacy highway projects formed part of the expenditure.
A year-by-year breakdown showed that road construction projects received N280.14bn from a budget of N1.09tn during the year, while rehabilitation and repair works attracted N345.93bn from an allocation of N1.42tn. Road and bridge maintenance projects also received N5.44bn out of a total provision of N14.68bn.
Business
Marketers, Depots Release New Petrol Prices as Dangote Refinery Slashes Price
Nigeria’s petrol market is witnessing a fresh wave of price reductions following the sharp decline in global crude oil prices and a major price cut by Dangote Refinery, raising hopes of cheaper fuel across the country.
The downturn in international oil prices has triggered adjustments at several fuel depots, with operators releasing new ex-depot prices amid growing optimism that petrol prices could ease further in the coming weeks.
Global crude prices extended their losses on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, after signs of a breakthrough in talks between the United States and Iran boosted expectations that the strategic Strait of Hormuz could soon return to normal operations.
The easing of tensions has reduced fears of supply disruptions that previously pushed oil prices higher.
As of Tuesday morning, Brent crude traded at $82.68 per barrel, down 0.59 per cent, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slipped 0.42 per cent to $80.41 per barrel.
Market confidence also received a boost after the LNG tanker Disha successfully sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday on its way to India, signalling the gradual restoration of energy shipments from the Gulf region.
Although shipping firms remain cautious, analysts believe oil prices may remain under pressure if the US-Iran agreement is formally signed and maritime activities fully resume.
Against this backdrop, Nigerian depots have begun adjusting their petrol prices downward.
Industry data obtained from PetroleumPriceNG shows that several depot owners lowered their ex-gantry prices as competition intensifies.
Dangote Refinery had earlier announced a significant N75 per litre reduction in its petrol price.
However, the refinery later adjusted its rate slightly upward by N5, selling Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at N1,185 per litre, compared to N1,175 previously.
Other depots have also announced fresh rates. Prudent Oghara is now selling petrol at N1,270 per litre, while AITEO offers PMS at N1,180 per litre. Mainland depot fixed its ex-depot price at N1,250 per litre.
The latest crash in crude oil prices could open the door for additional reductions in petrol and diesel prices across Nigeria. Industry experts say marketers may be compelled to lower prices further as cheaper crude filters into the supply chain and competition with Dangote Refinery intensifies
For millions of Nigerians struggling with high transportation and living costs, the current trend offers renewed hope that fuel prices may finally begin to ease in the months ahead.
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