NBS
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased marginally to 15.91 per cent in June 2026 from 15.93 per cent recorded in May, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.
The report showed that although the annual inflation rate continued its downward trend, food prices rose at a faster month-on-month pace, driven by increases in the prices of fresh pepper, tomatoes, crayfish, beef, garri, yam and other staple food items.
According to the NBS, “In June 2026, the Headline inflation rate was 15.91 per cent, down from 15.93 per cent in May 2026 and stood at 25.29 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (June 2025). Looking at the movement, the June 2026 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.02 per cent compared to the May 2026 Headline inflation rate.”
The bureau also said the Consumer Price Index increased to 143.0 in June from 140.7 in May, reflecting a 2.3-point increase over the previous month.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation slowed to 1.66 per cent in June from 1.75 per cent in May.
The report stated, “This means that in June 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in May 2026.”
The current inflation rate marked its first decline after three consecutive monthly increases, from 15.06 per cent in February to 15.38 per cent in March, 15.69 per cent in April and 15.93 per cent in May.
The slowdown came despite concerns that higher global crude oil prices triggered by the US-Iran conflict could fuel further inflationary pressures through increased fuel, transport and food costs, especially as the geopolitical tensions persist.
An analysis of the inflation components showed that food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to headline inflation at 6.37 percentage points.
Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 2.06 percentage points, transport accounted for 1.70 percentage points, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels added 1.34 percentage points. Education services contributed 0.99 percentage points, while health accounted for 0.96 percentage points.
Food inflation stood at 17.52 per cent year-on-year in June, compared with 25.41 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025. However, on a month-on-month basis, food inflation accelerated to 3.75 per cent from 2.98 per cent recorded in May.
The NBS attributed the increase to higher prices of several food commodities.
It said, “This can be attributed to the rate of change in the average prices of the following products: Crayfish, Pepper (Fresh), Tomatoes (Fresh), Green Peas (dried), Fresh Pepper, Yam Flour (Sold loose), Water Yam, Beef, Banana, Cassava Flour, Cow Pea, Garri, Irish Potatoes, Yam Tuber, etc.”
Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, fell to 15.92 per cent year-on-year in June from 25.41 per cent recorded in June 2025. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation slowed to 1.66 per cent from 1.94 per cent in May.
The report also showed that the average headline inflation rate for the 12 months ending June 2026 stood at 17.63 per cent, down from 29.82 per cent recorded in June 2025. Similarly, the average annual food inflation rate declined to 16.42 per cent from 31.93 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The urban inflation rate was 16.08 per cent year-on-year, while the rural inflation rate stood at 15.48 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation rose to 2.13 per cent from 1.99 per cent, while rural inflation slowed to 0.52 per cent from 1.17 per cent recorded in May.
Across the states, Niger recorded the highest annual all-items inflation rate at 42.23 per cent, followed by Kogi at 41.59 per cent and the Federal Capital Territory at 39.91 per cent. Imo recorded the lowest annual inflation rate at 19.47 per cent, followed by Ebonyi at 20.79 per cent and Katsina at 21.87 per cent.
For food inflation, Kogi posted the highest year-on-year rate at 53.02 per cent, followed by Niger at 43.83 per cent and Benue at 40.83 per cent. Katsina recorded the lowest food inflation rate at 19.15 per cent, while Rivers and Imo posted 23.81 per cent and 24.60 per cent, respectively.
