Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased marginally to 15.06 per cent in February 2026, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The report stated, “In February 2026, the Headline inflation rate eased to 15.06 per cent, down from 15.10 per cent in January 2026,” indicating a slight moderation in the pace of price increases across the economy.

Data from the report showed that the Consumer Price Index rose to 130.0 in February 2026 from 127.4 in January, reflecting a 2.6-point increase within the month.

The CPI measures the average change over time in the prices of goods and services consumed by households.

According to the bureau, the inflation rate also declined sharply on a year-on-year basis. “The February 2026 Headline inflation rate was 11.21 per cent lower than the rate recorded in February 2025 (26.27 per cent),” the report noted.

However, despite the yearly slowdown, prices rose faster on a monthly basis. The NBS said the month-on-month inflation rate stood at 2.01 per cent in February 2026, compared with a decline of 2.88 per cent recorded in January.

“This means that in February 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in January 2026,” the bureau explained.

The statistics office further noted that food prices remained the largest driver of inflation during the period, accounting for the highest contribution to the headline index.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 6.03 percentage points to overall inflation, followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 1.95 percentage points and transport at 1.61 percentage points.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels accounted for 1.27 percentage points, while education services contributed 0.93 percentage points to the headline index.

Urban inflation remained slightly higher than rural inflation during the period under review. On a year-on-year basis, urban inflation stood at 15.53 per cent in February 2026, significantly lower than the 28.49 per cent recorded in February 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate increased to 2.55 per cent from a decline of 2.72 per cent in January.

The NBS stated that rural inflation also declined on a yearly basis but rose compared with the previous month. Rural inflation was recorded at 13.93 per cent year-on-year in February 2026, compared with 22.73 per cent in February 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, rural inflation increased to 0.71 per cent in February, up from a decline of 3.29 per cent recorded in January.

Food inflation, which represents a significant component of household expenditure, also moderated significantly on a yearly basis.

The report noted that the food inflation rate stood at 12.12 per cent year-on-year in February 2026, compared with 26.98 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

Despite the annual decline, food prices rose sharply during the month. “On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in February 2026 was 4.69 per cent, up by 10.70 per cent compared to January 2026 (-6.02 per cent),” the NBS stated.

The bureau attributed the rise in food prices to increases in the average prices of several food items including beans, carrots, okazi leaf, cassava tuber, crayfish, millet flour, yam flour, snails and dried ogbono.

Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, also declined on a yearly basis.

According to the report, core inflation stood at 15.88 per cent year-on-year in February 2026, compared with 25.66 per cent recorded in February 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, however, the core inflation rate rose to 0.89 per cent from a decline of 1.69 per cent in January.

The NBS added that the twelve-month average inflation rate for the period ending February 2026 increased to 21.03 per cent, compared with 18.01 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

State-level analysis in the report showed wide variations in price movements across the country.

On a year-on-year basis, Kogi recorded the highest all-items inflation rate at 23.57 per cent, followed by Benue at 22.85 per cent and Anambra at 22.09 per cent.

Conversely, Katsina recorded the lowest inflation rate at 7.78 per cent, followed by Imo at 11.66 per cent and Ebonyi at 11.71 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, Enugu recorded the highest inflation increase at 5.92 per cent, followed by Ogun at 4.39 per cent and Anambra at 4.11 per cent.

Meanwhile, Zamfara recorded the steepest decline in monthly inflation at minus 2.14 per cent, followed by Bauchi at minus 1.23 per cent and Katsina at minus 1.06 per cent.

For food inflation, Kogi recorded the highest year-on-year rate at 26.91 per cent, followed by Adamawa at 23.12 per cent and Benue at 21.89 per cent.

In contrast, Katsina recorded the slowest rise in food prices at 5.09 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 7.09 per cent and Imo at 7.65 per cent.

The bureau noted that inflation comparisons across states should be interpreted carefully because consumption patterns and weights used in calculating the CPI differ across locations. (The PUNCH)

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