Nigeria’s headline inflation falls to 15.43% in July

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell to 15.43 per cent in July 2026, representing a 0.48 percentage-point decline from the 15.91 per cent recorded in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.

The latest figure was contained in the Consumer Price Index report released by the NBS on Monday.

The July rate also represented a significant decline from the 24.94 per cent recorded in July 2025, translating to a 9.51 percentage-point reduction year-on-year.

However, the decline in the inflation rate did not mean that the general price level fell during the month.

The NBS said the Consumer Price Index rose to 145.3 points in July from 143.0 points in June, representing a 2.2-point increase.

It explained that while the CPI measures changes in the average prices of goods and services purchased by consumers, the inflation rate measures the pace at which those prices increase.

On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at 1.57 per cent in July, down from 1.66 per cent in June.

The NBS said the development meant that the rate at which average prices increased was slower in July than in the preceding month.

Despite the moderation in headline inflation, food prices continued to exert pressure on households.

Food inflation rose to 20.31 per cent year-on-year in July, from 17.52 per cent in July 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation increased to 5.56 per cent in July from 3.75 per cent in June, reflecting continued pressure on food prices.

The NBS said the year-on-year increase in food inflation was driven largely by higher prices of commodities including rice, water yam and plantain.

There were also significant differences in food inflation across states, with Adamawa recording the highest year-on-year rate at 51.36 per cent, followed by Katsina at 30.84 per cent and Zamfara at 30.65 per cent.

Borno recorded a negative food inflation rate of 0.31 per cent, while Nasarawa and Kebbi recorded 6.88 per cent and 12.50 per cent respectively.

The NBS noted that state-level comparisons should be treated with caution because consumption patterns differ across states and locations.

The July figures nevertheless indicate that while the overall pace of inflation has moderated, rising food prices continue to pose significant cost-of-living pressures for Nigerian households.