Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell to 15.43 per cent in July 2026, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The July figure represents a decline from the 15.91 per cent recorded in June, indicating a slowdown in the overall rate at which consumer prices increased.
The NBS released its July inflation report in Abuja on Monday.
Headline Inflation Falls by 0.48 Percentage Points
According to the report, headline inflation declined by 0.48 percentage points between June and July.
On a month-on-month basis, inflation also eased to 1.57 per cent in July from 1.66 per cent in June.
The NBS explained that the month-on-month movement meant that average consumer prices increased at a slower pace in July than they did in June.
Year-on-year, July’s inflation rate was significantly lower than the 24.94 per cent recorded in July 2025.
Food Prices Remain a Major Concern
Despite the decline in headline inflation, food prices continued to exert considerable pressure on consumers.
Food inflation stood at 20.31 per cent year-on-year in July, compared with 26.20 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, however, food inflation increased to 5.56 per cent in July from 3.75 per cent in June.
The NBS attributed the monthly increase to changes in the prices of several food items, including crayfish, fresh pepper, onions, carrots, rice and water yam.
Other products contributing to the increase included tomatoes, garri, plantain, beef, eggs, guinea corn, ginger and plantain flour.
Core Inflation Also Slows
The report showed that core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 14.97 per cent year-on-year in July.
That represented a sharp decline from 23.95 per cent recorded in July 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation was 0.15 per cent, down from 1.66 per cent in June.
CPI Rises to 145.3
The Consumer Price Index itself increased to 145.3 in July, compared with 143.0 in June.
This represented a 2.2-point increase in the index, which measures changes in the prices of goods and services consumed by households.
The NBS data also showed different movements across major categories of the economy.
On a month-on-month basis, energy recorded -2.39 per cent, while farm produce stood at 4.66 per cent.
Services recorded 0.49 per cent, goods stood at 1.70 per cent, while imported food recorded 1.19 per cent.
Urban and Rural Inflation
Urban inflation remained higher than rural inflation during the period under review.
The urban inflation rate was 16.12 per cent year-on-year in July, while the month-on-month rate stood at 1.90 per cent, down from 2.13 per cent in June.
Rural inflation was 13.77 per cent year-on-year.
On a month-on-month basis, rural inflation increased to 0.78 per cent in July from 0.52 per cent in June.
Adamawa Records Highest State Inflation
The state-level data showed significant differences in inflation across the country.
Adamawa recorded the highest year-on-year headline inflation at 33.03 per cent, followed by Yobe at 25.21 per cent and Anambra at 23.99 per cent.
Nasarawa recorded the lowest year-on-year headline inflation at 7.86 per cent, followed by Kebbi and Borno, both at 9.12 per cent.
On a monthly basis, Adamawa again recorded the highest inflation rate at 12.48 per cent.
It was followed by Anambra at 9.95 per cent and Delta at 9.54 per cent.
Meanwhile, Niger recorded the largest monthly decline at -5.86 per cent, followed by Enugu at -5.71 per cent and Kebbi at -4.89 per cent.
Food Inflation Highest in Adamawa
Adamawa also recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation at 51.36 per cent.
Katsina followed with 30.84 per cent, while Zamfara recorded 30.65 per cent.
Borno recorded a slight decline in year-on-year food inflation at -0.31 per cent, while Nasarawa and Kebbi recorded 6.88 per cent and 12.50 per cent, respectively.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Adamawa at 17.02 per cent, followed by Lagos at 13.48 per cent and Borno at 13.26 per cent.
Jigawa recorded the largest monthly decline in food inflation at -3.68 per cent, followed by Kebbi at -3.67 per cent and Bauchi at -1.85 per cent.
