By Chinelo Obogo
Nigeria’s cost of living crisis worsened in March 2025 as food inflation surged to 21.79 per cent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.
In a report released yesterday, the NBS said the nflation is caused by the hike in price of essential staples such as garri, rice, and fresh produce, with the month-on-month data showing food inflation rose to 2.18 per cent up from 1.67 per cent in February.
As a result of the rise in food inflation, the headline inflation in March 2025 moved up to 24.23 per cent relative to the February 2025 headline inflation rate of 23.18 per cent. The March headline inflation rate showed an increase of 1.05 per cent compared to the February 2025 headline inflation rate.
The NBS also said fresh ginger, yellow garri, Ofada rice, natural honey, crabs, potatoes, plantain flour and fresh pepper are key contributors to the spike as prices for these items rose by double digits due to supply issues, seasonal shortages and soaring transportation costs.
According to NBS data, food inflation varied across states. On a year-on-year basis, Oyo State (34.41%), Kaduna (31.14%) and Kebbi (30.85%) recorded the highest increases, while Bayelsa (9.61%), Adamawa (12.41%) and Akwa Ibom (12.60%) saw slower rises.
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 linked these drops to localised harvests and state backed subsidy initiatives.
The NBS stated that in analysing price movements of food, the consumer price index (CPI) is weighted by consumption expenditure patterns that varies across different states and locations.
The body said the weight assigned to a particular food or non-food item differs from state to state thereby making interstate comparisons of consumption baskets inadvisable and potentially misleading.
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