Ekiti State emerged as the most expensive place to live in Nigeria in August 2025, making history as the first South-Western state to top the inflation rankings since the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in January.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the state recorded an all-items inflation rate of 28.2% year-on-year, higher than any other state in the country.
Monthly inflation also surged by 6.1%, the steepest among the top ten. What makes Ekiti’s case striking is that food prices—often the driver of state-level inflation—actually eased.
The food index dropped by 6.8% month-on-month, with annual food inflation at 16.8%, far below the all-items rate. This indicates that inflation in Ekiti is now powered by non-food categories such as housing, transport, electricity, and other services.
For households in the state, this shift shows the growing weight of structural costs in their monthly budgets, a departure from the food-led spikes seen in much of the North.
Borno’s three-month reign ends
Ekiti’s rise dethroned Borno, which had been Nigeria’s most expensive state for three consecutive months—May, June, and July 2025. In August, Borno posted an all-items inflation rate of 26.3%, still among the highest nationally, but lower than its July peak of 34.5%.
Crucially, its month-on-month inflation fell by 3.5%, while food inflation—long the main culprit in the state—slumped by 8.7% MoM even as the annual food rate stayed alarmingly high at 36.7%.
The moderation reflects short-term relief in food prices, but the annual data shows the cumulative strain households have faced throughout the year. Insecurity, disrupted farming, and broken logistics remain the underlying drivers, ensuring that food continues to dominate Borno’s inflation story despite recent corrections.
How the top position 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 food and essential goods costs despite lower rebased figures. In February, the crown passed to Edo (South-South), where broad-based inflation hit 33.6% on the back of surging food prices.
By March, the top spot shifted northward to Kaduna (North-West) at 33.3%, powered by double-digit monthly spikes across food 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 energy—can dominate state-level inflation profiles.
From May through July, the baton remained firmly in the North-East, with Borno holding the crown, driven by food inflation rates that soared as high as 64.4% year-on-year in May. The sequence shows that the inflationary crown has rotated across four geopolitical zones—South-East, South-South, North-West, North-East—before finally landing in the South-West in August with Ekiti.
