Inflation Rises to 15.93% in May as Food Prices Remain Elevated

June 15, () — Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 15.93 percent year-on-year in May 2026, up from 15.69 percent recorded in April, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The report, based on the rebased CPI framework with 2024 as the new base year and 2023 as the weight reference period, showed that the CPI increased to 140.7 points in May, reflecting a 2.4-point rise from the previous month.

On a month-on-month basis, however, inflationary pressures moderated slightly as the headline inflation rate slowed to 1.75 percent in May from 2.13 percent in April, indicating a slower pace of price increases despite the uptick in annual inflation.

Food prices remained a major driver of inflation during the month. Food inflation stood at 16.96 percent year-on-year, compared to 24.55 percent in May 2025, while month-on-month food inflation eased to 2.98 percent from 3.63 percent in April.

The increase was largely driven by higher prices of onions, maize, tomatoes, pepper, cassava products, yams, sweet potatoes, ginger, plantain, and cowpea.

The NBS identified Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Restaurants and Accommodation Services, and Transport as the largest contributors to headline inflation, contributing 6.38 percent, 2.06 percent, and 1.70 percent respectively.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, rose to 16.82 percent year-on-year.

On a monthly basis, core inflation accelerated sharply to 1.94 per cent from 1.03 per cent in April, suggesting persistent underlying price pressures across the economy.

The report also showed that inflation remained higher in urban areas than in rural communities. Urban inflation stood at 16.07 percent year-on-year, while rural inflation was recorded at 15.60 percent.

At the state level, Yobe recorded the highest annual headline inflation rate at 24.94 percent, followed by Anambra at 23.29 percent and Sokoto at 22.60 percent. Niger, Plateau, and Edo recorded the lowest annual inflation rates.

For food inflation, Adamawa, Kwara, and Rivers posted the highest year-on-year rates, while Borno, Taraba, and Bayelsa recorded the slowest increases in food prices.