Nigeria’s inflation rises to 15.69% in April as food prices remain elevated

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 15.69 per cent in April 2026, according to new data released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), extending the upward trend in consumer prices despite a slowdown in monthly inflationary pressure.

The statistics agency stated that the April figure represents an increase from the 15.38 per cent recorded in March 2026.

However, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate slowed sharply to 2.13 per cent in April from 4.18 per cent in March.

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report also shows that the CPI rose to 138.3 points in April, reflecting continued increases in the average prices of goods and services nationwide.

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Compared with the same period last year, however, inflation remained significantly lower than the 26.82 per cent recorded in April 2025.

Food inflation

The NBS data further showed that food inflation climbed to 16.06 per cent year-on-year in April 2026, up from 14.31 per cent in March.

Despite the yearly increase, monthly food price growth eased slightly. Food inflation on a month-on-month basis stood at 3.63 per cent in April, lower than the 4.17 per cent recorded in March.

The figures suggest that while food prices are still increasing, the pace of short-term increases may be slowing gradually.

The report also highlighted movements in core inflation, which excludes farm produce and energy prices.

According to the NBS, core inflation stood at 15.86 per cent year-on-year in April 2026, compared with 26.05 per cent in April 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, core inflation dropped significantly to 1.03 per cent from 4.03 per cent in March, indicating a moderation in underlying price pressures outside food and energy.

READ ALSO: NBS says petrol increased to N1,288 per litre in March

Urban, rural inflation trends

Breakdown of the inflation figures by location showed that rural inflation remained higher than urban inflation.

Urban inflation stood at 15.40 per cent year-on-year in April, compared with 27.61 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation slowed to 1.86 per cent from 3.16 per cent in March.

In rural areas, inflation was recorded at 16.36 per cent year-on-year, down from 25.73 per cent in April 2025. Monthly rural inflation also slowed to 2.80 per cent from 6.73 per cent recorded in March.