Nigeria’s headline inflation falls to 15.43% as food inflation rises

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined to 15.43 percent in July 2026, down from 15.91 percent recorded in June, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.

The NBS said the July figure represents a 0.48 percentage-point decline from the previous month, indicating a slower increase in the overall price level.

On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at 1.57 percent in July, compared with 1.66 percent in June, representing a 0.09 percentage-point decrease.

The bureau said the development means that prices continued to rise in July, but at a slower pace than they did in the previous month.

Food Inflation Climbs

Despite the decline in headline inflation, food inflation increased sharply during the month. The NBS reported that food inflation stood at 20.31 percent year-on-year in July 2026, compared with 26.20 percent recorded in July 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, however, food inflation rose to 5.56 percent, up significantly from 3.75 percent in June, representing a 1.82 percentage-point increase.

The bureau attributed the monthly rise to changes in the prices of several food items, including crayfish, fresh pepper, onions, carrots, rice, water yam, tomatoes, garri, plantain, beef, eggs, guinea corn, ginger and plantain flour.

It also identified increases in the prices of rice, water yam and plantain as major contributors to the year-on-year food inflation rate.

Adamawa Records Highest Food Inflation

The state-level data showed significant differences in food price movements across the country.

On a year-on-year basis, Adamawa recorded the highest food inflation rate at 51.36 percent, followed by Katsina at 30.84 percent and Zamfara at 30.65 percent.

In contrast, Borno recorded a negative food inflation rate of -0.31 percent, while Nasarawa and Kebbi posted 6.88 percent and 12.50 percent respectively, making them the states with the slowest increases in food inflation during the period.

On a month-on-month basis, Adamawa again recorded the highest food inflation at 17.02 percent, followed by Lagos at 13.48 percent and Borno at 13.26 percent.

Meanwhile, food inflation declined in some states. Jigawa recorded the largest monthly decline at -3.68 percent, followed by Kebbi at -3.67 percent and Bauchi at -1.85 percent.

The latest figures suggest that while the broader inflation trend moderated in July, food prices remained a major source of pressure on households, with substantial differences in food price movements across states.