NBS: INFLATION EASES TO 15.39% AS FOOD PRICES SLOW
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By:Aminat Tajudeen
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell slightly to 15.39 per cent in August 2026, as food price increases slowed significantly during the month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index report for August 2026 released on Monday.
The latest figure represents a 0.04 percentage-point decline from the 15.43 per cent recorded in July 2026 and a sharp drop from the 23.14 per cent reported in August 2025.
The report stated, “In August 2026, the headline inflation rate stood at 15.39 per cent, down from 15.43 per cent in July 2026 and stood at 23.14 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (August 2025).”
Despite the decline in the annual inflation rate, the Consumer Price Index, which measures changes in the prices of goods and services consumed by households, rose to 146.3 points in August from 145.3 points in July.
On a month-on-month basis, inflation moderated considerably to 0.71 per cent in August from 1.57 per cent in July, indicating that prices continued to increase but at a slower pace.
The NBS explained that the August figure showed that the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than that recorded in July.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to annual inflation, accounting for 6.16 percentage points. This was followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 1.99 percentage points, transport at 1.64 points, and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 1.30 points.
Food inflation stood at 19.57 per cent year-on-year in August, down from 25.30 per cent recorded in August 2025.
The decline was more pronounced on a monthly basis, with food inflation slowing to 1.02 per cent in August from 5.56 per cent in July.
According to the NBS, the development indicated that the average prices of food items were still rising but at a slower rate during the month.
The bureau attributed the moderation largely to changes in the average prices of commodities including palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, melon, fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken and turkey meat.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, also moderated to 13.29 per cent year-on-year in August, compared with 22.93 per cent recorded in August 2025. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation stood at -0.06 per cent, down from 0.15 per cent in July.
Inflationary trends, however, varied across different parts of the country.
Urban inflation stood at 15.88 per cent year-on-year, while rural inflation was lower at 14.23 per cent. However, rural prices increased faster during the month, with month-on-month inflation rising to 1.79 per cent from 0.78 per cent in July.
In urban areas, month-on-month inflation slowed to 0.28 per cent in August from 1.90 per cent in July.
At the state level, Lagos recorded the highest headline inflation rate at 23.68 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 22.56 per cent and Enugu at 22.06 per cent. Sokoto recorded the lowest rate at 2.11 per cent.
For food inflation, Adamawa recorded the highest rate at 38.85 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 37.96 per cent and Bayelsa at 36.20 per cent.
The NBS, however, cautioned that differences in consumption patterns and Consumer Price Index weights across states could make direct comparisons of inflation rates misleading.
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