Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 15.43 percent in July 2026, extending its downward trend for a second consecutive month. However, rising food prices continued to put pressure on households across the country.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday, showing that headline inflation fell by 0.48 percentage points from the 15.91 percent recorded in June.
According to the report, monthly headline inflation also slowed to 1.57 percent in July, down from 1.66 percent in June, indicating a slower pace in the overall increase in the prices of goods and services.
“The July 2026 headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.48 percent compared to the June 2026 headline inflation rate,” the NBS said.
“On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in July 2026 was 1.57 percent, which was 0.09 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in June 2026 (1.66 percent).”
The bureau noted that the latest figures mean the average price level increased at a slower pace in July than it did in the previous month.
Despite the moderation in headline inflation, food prices rose sharply during the month.
The NBS reported that food inflation climbed to 5.56 percent month-on-month in July, up from 3.75 percent in June, representing a 1.82 percentage-point increase.
The increase was driven by higher average prices of key food items, including crayfish, fresh pepper, onions, carrots, rice, water yam, tomatoes, garri, plantain, beef, eggs, guinea corn, ginger and plantain flour.
“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in July 2026 was 5.56 percent, up by 1.82 percentage points from June 2026 (3.75 percent),” the bureau stated.
However, on a year-on-year basis, food inflation moderated to 20.31 percent, compared to 26.20 percent recorded in July 2025.
The NBS attributed the annual increase in food inflation largely to rising prices of staples such as rice, water yam and plantain.
The report also showed a significant decline in core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural products and energy prices.
Core inflation fell to 14.97 percent year-on-year in July, down from 23.95 percent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
On a monthly basis, core inflation slowed sharply to 0.15 percent from 1.66 percent in June.
According to the NBS, the decline suggests easing price pressures outside food and energy-related items.
The Consumer Price Index rose to 145.3 points in July from 143.0 points in June, reflecting a 2.2-point increase in the index used to track changes in consumer prices.
Meanwhile, food inflation remained uneven across the country.
On a year-on-year basis, Adamawa recorded the highest food inflation rate at 51.36 percent, followed by Katsina at 30.84 percent and Zamfara at 30.65 percent.
At the other end of the scale, Borno recorded a negative food inflation rate of -0.31 percent, while Nasarawa and Kebbi posted 6.88 percent and 12.50 percent respectively.
On a month-on-month basis, Adamawa again recorded the highest food inflation rate at 17.02 percent, followed by Lagos at 13.48 percent and Borno at 13.26 percent.
Jigawa (-3.68 percent), Kebbi (-3.67 percent) and Bauchi (-1.85 percent) were the only states that recorded declines in food inflation during the month.
