Nigeria’s well being inflation price eased to 17.50% in February 2025, reflecting a slowdown within the tempo of worth will increase for medical items and companies.
The newest Shopper Value Index (CPI) report launched by the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveals a major decline from 25.02% recorded in February 2024, marking a 30.08% drop in annual well being inflation.
Regardless of the moderation within the inflation price, healthcare prices stay on the rise, with the well being index climbing to 111.1 in February 2025 from 94.6 within the earlier 12 months and 75.6 in February 2023.
On a month-on-month foundation, well being inflation rose by 0.12% in February 2025, indicating a slight improve in healthcare prices in comparison with the earlier month. The well being index climbed from 109.4 in January to 111.1 in February, reflecting continued worth will increase, albeit at a slower tempo.
The continued improve within the index means that whereas worth pressures are easing, the price of healthcare companies and prescribed drugs continues to rise.
The slowdown in well being inflation comes amid Nigeria’s CPI rebasing, which has adjusted the reference base 12 months from 2009 to 2024 to higher replicate present client spending patterns and {economic} realities. One of many key modifications within the rebased CPI is the revision of sectoral weightings, with healthcare now accounting for six.1% of the inflation basket, up from 3.0% within the earlier construction.
Whereas the NBS had reported in its January 2025 CPI report that well being inflation stood at 9.42%, its newest report contradicts that determine. The newly launched index figures point out that well being inflation for January 2025 was truly 18.04%, primarily based on an index studying of 109.4, up from 92.7 in January 2024.
This important discrepancy within the reported inflation price raises considerations concerning the transparency and consistency of NBS knowledge, notably because the CPI rebasing takes impact. The adjustment means that inflation within the well being sector could have been underestimated in earlier stories, highlighting the necessity for better scrutiny of official inflation knowledge.
Total, Nigeria’s headline inflation price fell from 24.48% in January to 23.18% in February, whereas core inflation (which excludes meals and power) declined barely from 22.59% to 23.01%. The slowdown in general inflation means that worth pressures are easing throughout a number of sectors, together with healthcare.
