Nigeria’s inflation falls to 15.43% in July as food prices remain high

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell to 15.43 per cent in July 2026 from 15.91 per cent in June, according to the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The NBS, in its Consumer Price Index report published on Monday, said the July figure represented a 0.48 percentage point decline from the previous month.

On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at 1.57 per cent in July, down from 1.66 per cent recorded in June.

The bureau said the figures indicated that the average level of prices increased at a slower rate in July than in the previous month.

Food prices, however, continued to exert pressure on households, with food inflation rising to 20.31 per cent year-on-year in July.

The NBS attributed the increase to changes in the prices of several food items, including rice, water yam and plantain.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation rose sharply to 5.56 per cent in July, compared with 3.75 per cent in June, representing a 1.82 percentage point increase.

The bureau said the monthly increase reflected changes in the average prices of commodities including crayfish, fresh pepper, onions, carrots, rice, water yam, tomatoes, garri, plantain, beef, eggs, guinea corn, ginger and plantain flour.

At the state level, Adamawa recorded the highest month-on-month food inflation at 17.02 per cent, followed by Lagos at 13.48 per cent and Borno at 13.26 per cent.

Jigawa recorded the sharpest monthly decline at -3.68 per cent, followed by Kebbi at -3.67 per cent and Bauchi at -1.85 per cent.

On a year-on-year basis, Adamawa also recorded the highest food inflation at 51.36 per cent in July, followed by Katsina at 30.84 per cent and Zamfara at 30.65 per cent.

Borno recorded a -0.31 per cent year-on-year rate, while Nasarawa and Kebbi recorded increases of 6.88 per cent and 12.50 per cent respectively.

The latest figures show that while the overall pace of inflation eased in July, food prices remained a major source of pressure on consumers, with significant differences in food inflation across states.