Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Falls To 15.39% In August

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell slightly to 15.39 per cent in August 2026, from 15.43 per cent recorded in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The statistics agency disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Tuesday, noting that the latest figure represents a 0.04 percentage point decline from the previous month.

The bureau also reported a sharper slowdown in the month-on-month inflation rate, which stood at 0.71 percent in August, compared with 1.57 percent in July.

According to the NBS, the month-on-month figure was 0.86 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in July.

“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.”

Food Inflation Falls To 19.57%

The NBS also reported a decline in food inflation, which stood at 19.57 percent year-on-year in August 2026.

The figure was lower than the 25.30 percent recorded in August 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation fell significantly to 1.02 percent in August from 5.56 percent in July, representing a decline of 4.55 percentage points.

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

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

At the state level, Adamawa recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation rate in August at 38.85 percent, followed by Zamfara at 37.96 percent and Bayelsa at 36.20 percent.

The lowest year-on-year food inflation rates were recorded in Borno at -4.04 percent, Jigawa at -0.23 percent and Kebbi at 3.47 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, Katsina recorded the highest food inflation rate at 9.48 percent, followed by Rivers at 8.86 percent and Osun at 8.32 percent.

The slowest month-on-month food inflation rates were recorded in Taraba at -12.42 percent, Borno at -12.15 percent and Bauchi at -8.88 percent.