Nigeria's Inflation Eases to 15.39% in August - NBS

By Victor Idajili

Nigeria's headline inflation rate dropped slightly to 15.39% in August 2026, down from 15.43% in July, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.

Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, disclosed this in a statement on Monday, noting that the figure is also sharply lower than the 23.14% recorded in August 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation slowed to 0.71% in August from 1.57% in July - a decline of 0.86 percentage points, the NBS said.

Adeniran attributed the easing to lower food prices.

Food inflation, which remains the biggest driver of the headline rate, stood at 19.57% year-on-year in August, compared to 25.30% a year earlier. Month-on-month, it fell to 1.02% from 5.56% in July.

"This shows that the average prices of food items are increasing at a decreasing rate in August 2026," Adeniran said.

He listed items that recorded slower price increases to include palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, egusi, fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken and turkey.

On a year-on-year basis, inflation stood at 21.52% for farm produce, 4.69% for energy, 15.38% for services, 14.74% for goods and 12.82% for imported food.

Urban inflation was 15.88% year-on-year in August. Month-on-month, it dropped to 0.28% from 1.90% in July.

Rural inflation was 14.23% year-on-year, but rose month-on-month to 1.79% from 0.78% in July.

The highest year-on-year increases were recorded in Lagos at 23.68%, Zamfara at 22.56% and Enugu at 22.06%, while Sokoto at 2.11%, Kebbi at 3.72% and Jigawa at 3.81% recorded the lowest.

On a month-on-month basis, Rivers at 6.92%, Osun at 5.61% and Kano at 5.59% posted the highest increases, while Anambra at -8.83%, Bauchi at -7.13% and Borno at -7.09% saw declines.

For food inflation year-on-year, Adamawa at 38.85%, Zamfara at 37.96% and Bayelsa at 36.20% were highest, while Borno at -4.04%, Jigawa at -0.23% and Kebbi at 3.47% were lowest.

Month-on-month food inflation was highest in Katsina at 9.48%, Rivers at 8.86% and Osun at 8.32%, while Taraba at -12.42%, Borno at -12.15% and Bauchi at -8.88% recorded the steepest drops.