Nigeria’s inflation eases for second straight month to 15.43%

…as food inflation hits 20.31%

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased slightly to 15.43 percent in July 2026, from 15.91 percent recorded in June, even as food inflation rose to 20.31 percent from 17.52 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report has shown.

According to the report published on Monday, the July headline inflation rate was also lower than the 24.94 percent recorded in July 2025.

The Bureau attributed the rise in food inflation to changes in the average prices of crayfish, fresh pepper, fresh onions, fresh carrots, rice, water yam, fresh tomatoes, garri, plantain, beef, eggs, guinea corn, ginger and plantain flour, among others.

BusinessDay’s analysis of the report showed that food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Adamawa at 51.36 percent, followed by Katsina at 30.84 percent and Zamfara at 30.65 percent. Borno, at -0.31 percent, Nasarawa at 6.88 percent and Kebbi at 12.50 percent recorded the slowest rises in food inflation.

On a month-on-month basis, July 2026 food inflation was highest in Adamawa at 17.02 percent, Lagos at 13.48 percent and Borno at 13.26 percent, while Jigawa at -3.60 percent, Kebbi at -3.67 percent and Bauchi at -1.85 percent recorded the lowest rates.

The NBS stated that the month-on-month headline inflation rate in July 2026 was 1.57 percent, representing a 0.09 percentage point decline from the 1.66 percent recorded in June.

At the divisional level, the three major contributors to headline inflation were food and non-alcoholic beverages, restaurants and…