Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Dips to 15.39% From 15.43%

By Spear News Nigeria

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell marginally to 15.39 percent in August 2026, down from 15.43 percent recorded in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.

In its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Wednesday, the bureau stated that the headline inflation rate decreased by 0.04 percent compared to the July 2026 figure.

“Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.04% compared to the July 2026 Headline inflation rate,” the NBS said.

On a month-on-month basis, the bureau reported that the headline inflation rate in August 2026 stood at 0.71 percent, which was 0.86 percent lower than the 1.57 percent recorded in July 2026.

“This means that in August 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in July 2026,” it added.

Food

The NBS also disclosed that the food inflation rate in August 2026 was 19.57 percent on a year-on-year basis, lower than the 25.30 percent recorded in the same month of the preceding year.

“However, on a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in August 2026 was 1.02%, down by 4.55% points from July 2026 (5.56%),” the report read.

“This shows that the average prices of food items are increasing at a decreasing rate in August 2026.”

The statistics agency attributed the decline in food inflation mainly to changes in the average prices of palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, melon (egusi), fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken, turkey meat, among others.

On a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Adamawa (38.85 percent), Zamfara (37.96 percent) and Bayelsa (36.20 percent), according to the NBS.

The slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Borno (-4.04 percent), Jigawa (-0.23 percent) and Kebbi (3.47 percent).

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Katsina (9.48 percent), Rivers (8.86 percent) and Osun (8.32 percent), while Taraba (-12.42 percent), Borno (-12.15 percent) and Bauchi (-8.88 percent) recorded the slowest rise.

The latest figures suggest that while inflation remains elevated, the pace of price increases is moderating, particularly in the food component, which weighs heavily on Nigerian households.