Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined slightly to 15.39 per cent in August 2026, down from 15.43 per cent recorded in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the bureau on Tuesday showed a 0.04 percentage point drop in the headline inflation rate compared to the previous month.
The report also revealed that the month-on-month inflation rate slowed to 0.71 per cent in August from 1.57 per cent in July. This represents a decline of 0.86 percentage points, indicating that prices increased at a slower pace during the month.
The NBS stated: “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.”
Food inflation also recorded an improvement during the review period. The year-on-year food inflation rate stood at 19.57 per cent in August 2026, lower than the 25.30 per cent recorded in August 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation dropped sharply to 1.02 per cent in August from 5.56 per cent in July, representing a decline of 4.55 percentage points.
According to the bureau, the latest figures show that food prices are still rising, but at a much slower pace than in previous months.
The NBS said the moderation in food inflation was driven by changes in the prices of items such as palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, melon (egusi), fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken and turkey, among others.
Across the states, Adamawa recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation rate at 38.85 per cent, followed by Zamfara with 37.96 per cent and Bayelsa with 36.20 per cent.
The lowest year-on-year food inflation rates were recorded in Borno at -4.04 per cent, Jigawa at -0.23 per cent, and Kebbi at 3.47 per cent.
For month-on-month food inflation, Katsina posted the highest rate at 9.48 per cent, followed by Rivers at 8.86 per cent and Osun at 8.32 per cent.
Meanwhile, Taraba recorded the slowest monthly food inflation rate at -12.42 per cent, followed by Borno at -12.15 per cent and Bauchi at -8.88 per cent.
The latest figures suggest that while inflationary pressures remain, the pace of price increases continued to slow in August, particularly in the food sector.
