Inflation cools slightly to 15.06% as food prices remain key driver

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased slightly to 15.06% in February 2026, signalling a gradual cooling of price pressures in the economy.

Data released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed the figure declined marginally from 15.10% recorded in January, representing a 0.04 percentage-point drop.

Although the decline is modest, it extends the recent trend of easing inflation that policymakers at the Central Bank of Nigeria are expected to monitor closely as they pursue price stability.

The report also showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the average change over time in prices of goods and services consumed by households, rose to 130.0 in February, up from 127.4 in January, representing a 2.6-point increase within the month.

On a year-on-year basis, headline inflation fell sharply compared with the 26.27% recorded in February 2025, marking a decline of 11.21 percentage points.

However, prices rose faster on a month-on-month basis, with inflation standing at 2.01% in February, compared with -2.88% recorded in January.

According to the NBS, food prices remained the largest contributor to inflation during the period.

Food inflation stood at 12.12% year-on-year in February 2026, a 14.86 percentage-point drop from 26.98% recorded in February 2025.

Despite the yearly decline, food prices accelerated on a month-on-month basis, rising to 4.69% in February, compared with -6.02% in January.

The statistics agency attributed the increase to rising prices of several food items, including beans, carrots, okazi leaf, cassava tuber, crayfish, millet flour, yam flour, snails, dried ogbono (apon) and cowpeas.

“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending February 2026 was 19.08%, which is 18.31 percentage points lower than the 37.40% recorded in February 2025,” the report stated.

The data also showed variations between urban and rural inflation. On a year-on-year basis, urban inflation stood at 15.53% in February 2026, down by 12.96 percentage points from 28.49% recorded in February 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation rose to 2.55%, compared with -2.72% recorded in January. The 12-month average urban inflation rate stood at 21.25%, slightly higher than the 19.44% recorded in February 2025.

Meanwhile, rural inflation stood at 13.93% year-on-year, representing a decline of 8.80 percentage points from 22.73% recorded in February 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, rural inflation rose to 0.71%, compared with -3.29% recorded in January.

The 12-month average rural inflation rate stood at 20.28%, which was 3.80 percentage points higher than the 16.47% recorded in February 2025, the report added.