Nigeria’s Inflation Slows Further To 15.39% In August, Food Prices Ease

• Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased for the second consecutive month, falling marginally to 15.39 percent in August 2026 from 15.43 percent in July, as the pace of increase in consumer prices continued to moderate.

• The August inflation figure was 7.75 percentage points lower than the 23.14 percent recorded in August 2025, while the 12-month average inflation rate also recorded a substantial decline, signalling a broad cooling of inflationary pressures.

• Food inflation dropped sharply to 19.57 percent year-on-year from 25.30 percent a year earlier, while month-on-month food inflation plunged from 5.56 percent in July to 1.02 percent in August, offering some relief amid persistent pressure on household budgets.

• Core inflation also moderated to 13.29 percent year-on-year, while its month-on-month rate turned negative at -0.06 percent, indicating that underlying price pressures weakened further during the month despite continued increases in some categories.

September 15, () – Nigeria’s headline inflation rate slowed further to 15.39 percent in August 2026, extending its decline for the second consecutive month, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.

The August figure represents a marginal decline of 0.04 percentage points from the 15.43 percent recorded in July. It also marks a significant improvement over the 23.14 percent recorded in August 2025, representing a 7.75 percentage-point decline over the 12-month period.

reports that the latest figures indicate that while prices are still rising, the rate at which they are increasing has continued to slow.

On a month-on-month basis, the average price level rose by 0.71 percent in August, compared with 1.57 percent in July. This represents a decline of 0.86 percentage points in the monthly inflation rate, indicating a considerable slowdown in the pace of price increases during the month.

The NBS said the 12-month average change in the CPI stood at 16.30 percent for the period ending August 2026, representing a 12.02 percentage-point decline from the 28.32 percent recorded in August 2025.

Urban, Rural Inflation

The report showed that inflationary trends varied between urban and rural areas.

Urban inflation stood at 15.88 percent year-on-year in August, while the month-on-month rate was 0.28 percent. The monthly urban inflation rate declined sharply from 1.90 percent in July.

The 12-month average urban inflation rate stood at 16.28 percent, down by 13.45 percentage points from the 29.73 percent recorded in August 2025.

Rural inflation, meanwhile, stood at 14.23 percent year-on-year in August. However, the rural economy recorded an increase in monthly price pressure, with rural inflation rising to 1.79 percent from 0.78 percent in July.

The 12-month average rural inflation rate was 16.02 percent, representing a 10.45 percentage-point decline from the 26.47 percent recorded in August 2025.

Food Inflation Drops Sharply

Food inflation recorded one of the most significant improvements in the latest report.

The NBS put food inflation at 19.57 percent year-on-year in August, down substantially from the 25.30 percent recorded in August 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, however, food prices still increased by 1.02 percent, but this was significantly lower than the 5.56 percent recorded in July.

The sharp monthly decline suggests that food prices continued to rise but at a much slower pace.

The NBS attributed the movement to changes in the prices of several major food commodities, 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.

The 12-month average food inflation rate stood at 15.70 percent, down by 14.15 percentage points from the 29.86 percent recorded in August 2025.

Core Inflation Also Moderates

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy costs, also declined during the period.

The NBS reported core inflation at 13.29 percent year-on-year in August, representing a 9.64 percentage-point decline from the 22.93 percent recorded in August 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, core inflation stood at negative 0.06 percent in August, compared with 0.15 percent in July.

The negative monthly figure indicates that prices covered by the core inflation measure recorded a marginal decline during the month.

The 12-month average core inflation rate was 17.30 percent, down by 8.85 percentage points from the 26.15 percent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.