INFLATION EASES TO 15.91% AS FOOD PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE

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By; Sunmola Ganiyat

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined slightly to 15.91 per cent in June 2026 from 15.93 per cent recorded in May, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The report showed that while overall inflation continued its gradual decline, food prices rose at a faster pace on a month-on-month basis, driven by increases in the cost of fresh pepper, tomatoes, crayfish, beef, garri, yam and other staple food items.

According to the NBS, headline inflation stood at 15.91 per cent in June, lower than the 25.29 per cent recorded in June 2025 and 0.02 percentage points below the May 2026 figure.

The bureau also reported that the Consumer Price Index rose to 143.0 in June from 140.7 in May, representing a 2.3-point increase.

On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation slowed to 1.66 per cent in June from 1.75 per cent in May, indicating a slower rate of increase in average prices.

The latest figure marks the first decline in headline inflation after three consecutive monthly increases, which saw inflation rise from 15.06 per cent in February to 15.38 per cent in March, 15.69 per cent in April and 15.93 per cent in May.

The easing came despite concerns that rising global crude oil prices linked to the United States-Iran conflict could increase inflationary pressures through higher fuel, transport and food costs.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to headline inflation, accounting for 6.37 percentage points.

Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 2.06 percentage points, transport accounted for 1.70 percentage points, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 1.34 percentage points. Education services added 0.99 percentage points and health contributed 0.96 percentage points.

Food inflation stood at 17.52 per cent year-on-year in June, compared to 25.41 per cent in June 2025. However, on a month-on-month basis, food inflation accelerated to 3.75 per cent from 2.98 per cent recorded in May.

The NBS attributed the increase to rising prices of commodities including crayfish, fresh pepper, tomatoes, dried green peas, yam flour, water yam, beef, banana, cassava flour, cowpea, garri, Irish potatoes and yam tubers.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, fell to 15.92 per cent year-on-year in June from 25.41 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025. On a month-on-month basis, it slowed to 1.66 per cent from 1.94 per cent in May.

The report further showed that the average headline inflation rate for the 12 months ending June 2026 stood at 17.63 per cent, compared to 29.82 per cent in June 2025.

Similarly, the average annual food inflation rate declined to 16.42 per cent from 31.93 per cent recorded in the corresponding period last year.

Urban inflation stood at 16.08 per cent year-on-year, while rural inflation was recorded at 15.48 per cent.

Among the states, Niger recorded the highest annual all-items inflation rate at 42.23 per cent, followed by Kogi at 41.59 per cent and the Federal Capital Territory at 39.91 per cent.

Imo posted the lowest annual inflation rate at 19.47 per cent, followed by Ebonyi at 20.79 per cent and Katsina at 21.87 per cent.

For food inflation, Kogi recorded the highest rate at 53.02 per cent, followed by Niger at 43.83 per cent and Benue at 40.83 per cent.

Katsina had the lowest food inflation rate at 19.15 per cent, while Rivers and Imo recorded 23.81 per cent and 24.60 per cent respectively.