Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 15.39 per cent in August 2026, down slightly from 15.43 per cent in July, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The decline represents a modest 0.04 percentage-point drop month-on-month, but the August figure is significantly lower than the 23.14 per cent recorded in the same month of 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation also slowed sharply.

Consumer prices rose by 0.71 per cent in August, compared with 1.57 per cent in July, indicating that prices were still increasing, but at a slower pace.

That distinction is important for households.

A lower inflation rate does not mean prices have started falling across the economy. It means the pace at which prices are rising has reduced.

Food prices, which remain one of the biggest concerns for Nigerian households, also showed signs of easing.

Food inflation stood at 19.57 per cent year-on-year in August, compared with 25.30 per cent in August 2025.

More significantly, monthly food inflation dropped to 1.02 per cent in August from 5.56 per cent in July, according to the NBS data.

The bureau attributed the moderation partly to changes in the prices of items including palm oil, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken and turkey meat.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributors to overall inflation, accounting for 6.16 percentage points.

Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 1.99 percentage points, transport added 1.64 points, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 1.30 points.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, also moderated.

It stood at 13.29 per cent year-on-year, compared with 22.93 per cent in August 2025.

On a monthly basis, core inflation was recorded at -0.06 per cent, compared with 0.15 per cent in July.

Inflation, however, continued to vary significantly across states.

Lagos recorded the highest headline inflation rate at 23.68 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 22.56 per cent and Enugu at 22.06 per cent.

Sokoto, at 2.11 per cent, recorded the lowest headline inflation rate.

For food inflation, Adamawa recorded the highest rate at 38.85 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 37.96 per cent and Bayelsa at 36.20 per cent.

Urban inflation stood at 15.88 per cent, while rural inflation was lower at 14.23 per cent.

However, rural prices rose faster during August, with month-on-month inflation increasing to 1.79 per cent, while urban monthly inflation slowed to 0.28 per cent.