The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has endorsed Nigeria’s December 2025 inflation outcome and the revised inflation methodology adopted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), describing the changes as consistent with international best practice and supportive of macroeconomic stability.
In a statement issued on Thursday on behalf of the IMF Resident Representative for Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, the Fund said the latest Consumer Price Index data showed easing inflationary pressures that could help reduce the cost of living if the trend is sustained.
The statement was issued by the Office Manager to the IMF Resident Representative for Nigeria, Laraba Bonet.
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate moderated to 15.15% in December 2025, following a revision of the CPI methodology by the NBS. The IMF said the outcome was a positive signal for the economy.
What the statement says
“We welcome the December Consumer Price Index inflation figures released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, which show an easing of inflation that, if sustained, will help reduce cost-of-living pressures and support macroeconomic stability,” the Fund said.
The December reading marked a sharp slowdown from earlier levels, reinforcing expectations that inflationary momentum may be gradually weakening.
The NBS recently rebased the CPI and adopted a twelve-month reference period for 2024, replacing the single-month reference approach previously used for year-on-year inflation calculations.
According to the IMF, the new approach aligns Nigeria’s inflation measurement with global standards.
“The release reflects a welcome change in methodology that aligns Nigeria’s CPI calculation with international best practices, as set out by ECOWAS and the IMF’s 2020 CPI Manual,” the statement noted.
Improved data quality and comparability
Under the revised framework, the NBS now links the old CPI series to the rebased and reweighted index using the full year of 2024 as the reference period. The IMF described this as a critical improvement in data quality.
“Under the new methodology, the NBS links the old CPI to the rebased and reweighted index using the full year of 2024 as the reference period, making the data more stable and comparable over time,” the Fund said.
While acknowledging that the change resulted in revisions to Nigeria’s 2025 inflation figures, the IMF stressed that the broader direction of inflation still showed a gradual easing through the year.
“This change leads to a revision of the 2025 inflation numbers but continues to show a trend of inflation coming down throughout the year,” it added.
The IMF’s endorsement comes amid public debate over Nigeria’s inflation path following the CPI rebasing exercise, which the NBS said was necessary to avoid distortions driven by statistical base effects rather than real price pressures.
What you should know
Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation eased sharply to 15.15% in December 2025, following a methodological review by the National Bureau of Statistics, signalling a significant moderation in price pressures compared with both the previous month and the same period last year.
- Data from the latest Consumer Price Index report showed that the CPI rose to 131.2 points in December from 130.5 points in November, indicating a slower pace of increase in average prices across the economy.
- On a year-on-year basis, headline inflation fell to 15.15% in December 2025 from 17.33% in November and was far lower than the 34.80% recorded in December 2024.
This reflected a sharp deceleration in inflation over the twelve-month period.
