Nigeria’s annual inflation rate fell to 14.63% in September 2026, down from 15.39% in August, according to new figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, published on Thursday, October 15, shows that inflation slowed by 0.76 percentage points, continuing a period of easing price pressures across the country.
However, food inflation remained elevated at 19.59%, highlighting the financial pressure many Nigerian households continue to face despite the improvement in the overall inflation figures.
Nigeria’s Inflation Falls as Monthly Price Increases Slow
The NBS reported that headline inflation was considerably lower than the 20.98% recorded in September 2025, representing a year-on-year decline of 6.35 percentage points.
Monthly inflation also slowed sharply, falling to 0.06% in September from 0.71% in August.
This indicates that the average cost of goods and services increased at a much slower pace during September than in the preceding month.
The Consumer Price Index rose marginally to 146.38 points from 146.30 in August, reflecting a 0.08-point increase.
Although the annual inflation rate has declined, the figures do not mean that prices across the economy have returned to previous levels.
Instead, they show that the overall pace of price increases has moderated.
Food Inflation Remains High Despite Monthly Price Decline
Food inflation continued to be a major concern for Nigerian consumers, reaching 19.59% in September on a year-on-year basis.
The figure was slightly higher than August’s 19.57%, although it remained below the 20.16% recorded in September 2025.
On a monthly basis, however, food inflation dropped to -1.55%, compared with an increase of 1.02% in August.
The negative monthly reading indicates that average prices within the food basket declined between August and September.
According to the NBS, movements in the prices of agricultural and food products contributed to the changes recorded during the month.
These products included local rice, maize flour, eggs, onions, palm oil, tomatoes, Irish potatoes, green beans and plantain.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to annual headline inflation, accounting for 5.85 percentage points.
Restaurants and accommodation services followed with 1.89 percentage points, while transportation contributed 1.56 percentage points.
Core Inflation Drops to 12.95%
The report also showed that core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, declined to 12.95% in September.
This represented a substantial reduction from the 22.11% recorded during the corresponding period in 2025.
Compared with August 2026, when annual core inflation stood at 13.29%, the latest figures point to continued moderation in underlying annual price pressures.
However, monthly core inflation increased to 1.11% from -0.06% in August.
The increase suggests that prices of some goods and services outside the volatile food and energy categories rose during September.
Urban and Rural Inflation Show Different Trends
Inflation remained higher in urban areas than in rural communities.
Urban inflation stood at 15.64% year-on-year in September, while rural inflation was recorded at 12.46%.
On a monthly basis, urban inflation increased to 0.53%, up from 0.28% in August.
Rural inflation moved in the opposite direction, falling to -0.89% from 1.79% in the previous month.
The figures indicate that while rural areas experienced an average monthly decline in measured consumer prices, urban households continued to face moderate price increases.
Imo Records Highest Inflation as Taraba Posts Lowest Rate
The September report revealed considerable differences in inflation across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Imo State recorded the highest annual headline inflation rate at 30.04%, followed by Enugu at 22.38% and Niger State at 22.05%.
At the other end of the rankings, Taraba recorded the lowest annual headline inflation at 1.78%.
Bauchi followed with 2.89%, while Adamawa posted 3.66%.
On a month-on-month basis, Imo also recorded the highest headline inflation at 8.64%, followed by Kaduna at 4.46% and Sokoto at 3.01%.
Meanwhile, Adamawa, Bauchi and Kano recorded monthly declines of 6.10%, 5.31% and 4.49%, respectively.
Lagos Leads States With Highest Food Inflation
Lagos State recorded the highest annual food inflation rate in September at 34.40%.
Imo followed with 33.79%, while Ondo recorded 31.49%.
Taraba reported the lowest annual food inflation at -7.47%, followed by Yobe at -0.37% and Borno at 2.18%.
Monthly food inflation was highest in Imo at 5.15%, Ondo at 4.46% and Oyo at 3.82%.
In contrast, Adamawa recorded a monthly food inflation rate of -13.84%, followed by Kano at -11.01% and Bauchi at -10.21%.
The substantial differences between states illustrate how changes in food prices vary across markets and regions.
Why Inflation Has Remained a Major Economic Challenge
Nigeria has experienced significant cost-of-living pressures since 2023, following major changes to the country’s economic policies.
The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu introduced reforms involving petrol subsidies and the foreign exchange market as part of efforts to strengthen government finances and improve economic stability.
The reforms were accompanied by substantial increases in transportation costs, energy prices and the cost of imported products.
Insecurity affecting agricultural production, expensive logistics and weaknesses in food distribution have also contributed to pressure on household budgets.
In 2025, the NBS introduced a rebased Consumer Price Index, using 2024 as the price reference year and updated household expenditure weights from 2023.
The change was designed to reflect more accurately how Nigerians spend their money.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has also used monetary policy measures to contain inflation and support price stability.
At its September 2026 meeting, the bank reset its Monetary Policy Rate to 23%, down from 26.5%.
What the September Inflation Figures Mean for Nigerians
The decline to 14.63% suggests that Nigeria is experiencing slower overall price increases than it did a year earlier.
The fall in monthly food prices may provide some relief to households, particularly those spending a large share of their income on groceries.
Nevertheless, annual food inflation of 19.59% shows that food remained substantially more expensive than during the same period last year.
The challenge for policymakers will be to sustain the slowdown while improving food supply, reducing transportation costs and supporting household purchasing power.
For Nigerian families and businesses, the real test will be whether improving economic indicators translate into more affordable essential goods and a meaningful reduction in daily living expenses.
