Inflation eases to 15.39% as food prices slow — NBS

Nigeria's headline inflation rate decreased slightly to 15.39 percent in August 2026, as the pace of rising food prices slowed significantly, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This represents a 0.04 percentage point drop from 15.43 percent in July and a substantial reduction from 23.14 percent in August 2025. The Consumer Price Index, which tracks changes in the prices of goods and services households consume, rose to 146.3 points in August from 145.3 points in July, with monthly inflation slowing to 0.71 percent in August from 1.57 percent in July.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages were the main drivers of annual inflation, accounting for 6.16 percentage points. Food prices increased by 19.57 percent year-on-year in August, down from 25.30 percent in the same period of 2025. Monthly food inflation fell sharply to 1.02 percent from 5.56 percent in July. Core inflation, excluding volatile agricultural and energy prices, moderated to 13.29 percent year-on-year from 22.93 percent in August 2025 and turned negative at -0.06 percent on a monthly basis.

Urban inflation stood at 15.88 percent year-on-year, while rural inflation was 14.23 percent. Lagos had the highest inflation rate at 23.68 percent, while Sokoto had the lowest at 2.11 percent.