Nigeria’s headline inflation rate edged down to 15.39 per cent in August 2026, compared with 15.43 per cent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported.
According to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the agency, inflation declined by 0.04 percentage points month-on-month, signalling a modest slowdown in the rate at which prices of goods and services increased.
The month-on-month headline inflation rate also fell sharply to 0.71 per cent in August from 1.57 per cent in July.
“Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.04% compared to the July 2026 Headline inflation rate,” the bureau said.
The NBS explained that the August figure indicated that the average price level rose at a slower pace than it did in the previous month.
Food inflation falls to 19.57%
Food inflation recorded a more pronounced decline, dropping to 19.57 per cent year-on-year in August from 25.30 per cent in August 2025.
Month-on-month food inflation fell to 1.02 per cent in August, down from 5.56 per cent in July. This represents a decline of 4.55 percentage points.
The statistics agency attributed the moderation to movements 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.
“This shows that the average prices of food items are increasing at a decreasing rate in August 2026,” the bureau said.
However, food inflation remained uneven across the country, with wide differences recorded among states.
Adamawa posted the highest year-on-year food inflation rate at 38.85 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 37.96 per cent and Bayelsa at 36.20 per cent.
Borno recorded the lowest rate at -4.04 per cent, while Jigawa and Kebbi followed with -0.23 per cent and 3.47 per cent, respectively.
On a month-on-month basis, Katsina recorded the highest food inflation rate at 9.48 per cent. Rivers followed at 8.86 per cent, while Osun recorded 8.32 per cent.
Taraba posted the steepest decline at -12.42 per cent, followed by Borno at -12.15 per cent and Bauchi at -8.88 per cent.
The figures point to a continued slowdown in price growth, particularly for food items, although inflation remains high and the pressure on consumers continues to differ significantly from one state to another.
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