The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell marginally to 15.39 per cent in August, as the pace of increase in food prices slowed sharply during the month.
The latest figure is a 0.04 percentage-point decline from the 15.43 per cent recorded in July and represents a significant moderation from the 23.14 per cent recorded in August 2025.
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The statistics agency disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for August 2026 released on Tuesday.
The CPI, which measures changes in the prices of goods and services consumed by households, increased to 146.3 points in August from 145.3 points in July, indicating that prices continued to rise even though the rate of increase slowed.
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On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation fell considerably to 0.71 per cent in August from 1.57 per cent in July.
“This means that in August 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in July 2026,” the NBS said.
Food prices ease sharply
The most notable change in the August figures was the slowdown in food inflation.
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Food inflation fell to 19.57 per cent year-on-year in August, from 20.31 per cent in July and 25.30 per cent in August 2025.
More significantly, the monthly rate dropped sharply to 1.02 per cent in August from 5.56 per cent in July.
The July figures had presented a more difficult picture for households, as PREMIUM TIMES reported that while overall inflation was easing, food inflation had accelerated sharply during the month.
At the time, food inflation rose from 17.52 per cent in June to 20.31 per cent in July, while monthly food inflation jumped from 3.75 per cent to 5.56 per cent.
The August data therefore show a reversal in that trend, with the pace of monthly food price increases slowing by more than four percentage points.
The NBS said the moderation was reflected in changes in the average prices of commodities including palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, melon, fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken and turkey meat.
The bureau said the figures showed that “the average prices of food items are increasing at a decreasing rate in August 2026.”
Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to annual headline inflation, accounting for 6.16 percentage points.
Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 1.99 percentage points, followed by transport at 1.64 percentage points and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 1.30 percentage points.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, also moderated during the month.
It fell to 13.29 per cent year-on-year in August, compared with 14.97 per cent in July and 22.93 per cent in August 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation turned negative at -0.06 per cent, compared with 0.15 per cent in July.
The figures indicate that price pressures outside some of the more volatile components of the consumer basket also weakened during the month.
Urban, rural inflation
The NBS data showed that inflation continued to differ between urban and rural areas.
Urban inflation stood at 15.88 per cent year-on-year in August, compared with 16.12 per cent in July.
Rural inflation, meanwhile, increased to 14.23 per cent, from 13.77 per cent in July.
The monthly figures showed a sharper divergence.
Urban month-on-month inflation slowed to 0.28 per cent in August from 1.90 per cent in July, while rural month-on-month inflation rose to 1.79 per cent from 0.78 per cent.
This means that although annual inflation remained higher in urban areas, prices in rural areas recorded a faster monthly increase during August.
Inflation varies across states
The NBS data also showed significant differences in inflation rates across the states.
Lagos recorded the highest headline inflation at 23.68 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 22.56 per cent and Enugu at 22.06 per cent.
Sokoto recorded the lowest headline inflation rate at 2.11 per cent.
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.
The NBS cautioned, however, that differences in consumption patterns and the weights assigned to items in the Consumer Price Index mean that direct comparisons of inflation rates between states can be misleading.
What the figures mean
The August figures provide another indication that the pace of overall price increases is slowing after inflation rose gradually between March and May.
Headline inflation increased from 15.38 per cent in March to 15.69 per cent in April and 15.93 per cent in May, before easing to 15.91 per cent in June and 15.43 per cent in July.
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The decline continued, albeit marginally, in August.
The movement in food inflation is particularly significant for households because food remains one of the largest components of consumer spending.
Unlike July, when the sharp increase in monthly food inflation suggested renewed pressure on household budgets, the August figure indicates that food prices increased at a considerably slower pace.
However, the lower inflation rate does not mean that the prices of goods and services have fallen. Rather, it means that prices continued to rise but at a slower rate than they did previously.
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