Ekiti State emerged as the costliest place to dwell in Nigeria in August 2025, making historical past as the primary South-Western state to high the inflation rankings for the reason that rebasing of the Shopper Worth Index (CPI) in January.
In response to the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the state recorded an all-items inflation price of 28.2% year-on-year, greater than every other state within the nation.
Month-to-month inflation additionally surged by 6.1%, the steepest among the many high ten. What makes Ekiti’s case placing is that meals costs—usually the driving force of state-level inflation—really eased.
The meals index dropped by 6.8% month-on-month, with annual meals inflation at 16.8%, far under the all-items price. This means that inflation in Ekiti is now powered by non-food classes akin to housing, transport, electrical energy, and different providers.
For households within the state, this shift exhibits the rising weight of structural prices of their month-to-month budgets, a departure from the food-led spikes seen in a lot of the North.
Borno’s three-month reign ends
Ekiti’s rise dethroned Borno, which had been Nigeria’s most costly state for 3 consecutive months—Might, June, and July 2025. In August, Borno posted an all-items inflation price of 26.3%, nonetheless among the many highest nationally, however decrease than its July peak of 34.5%.
Crucially, its month-on-month inflation fell by 3.5%, whereas meals inflation—lengthy the primary perpetrator within the state—slumped by 8.7% MoM even because the annual meals price stayed alarmingly excessive at 36.7%.
The moderation displays short-term aid in meals costs, however the annual knowledge exhibits the cumulative pressure households have confronted all year long. Insecurity, disrupted farming, and damaged logistics stay the underlying drivers, making certain that meals continues to dominate Borno’s inflation story regardless of latest corrections.
How the highest place has rotated in 2025
Ekiti’s climb to No. 1 caps months of regional shifts in Nigeria’s inflation map. In January, following the CPI rebasing, Imo (South-East) topped the chart with 17.7% all-items inflation, highlighting persistent meals and important items prices regardless of decrease rebased figures. In February, the crown handed to Edo (South-South), the place broad-based inflation hit 33.6% on the again of surging meals costs.
By March, the highest spot shifted northward to Kaduna (North-West) at 33.3%, powered by double-digit month-to-month spikes throughout meals and non-food baskets. Enugu (South-East) took over in April, recording 36% all-items inflation and showcasing how non-food pressures—housing, transport, and vitality—can dominate state-level inflation profiles.
From Might by means of July, the baton remained firmly within the North-East, with Borno holding the crown, pushed by meals inflation charges that soared as excessive as 64.4% year-on-year in Might. The sequence exhibits that the inflationary crown has rotated throughout 4 geopolitical zones—South-East, South-South, North-West, North-East—earlier than lastly touchdown within the South-West in August with Ekiti.
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