By OKEOGHENE AKUBUIKE

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 15.69 per cent in April 2026.

The NBS said this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for April 2026 released in Abuja on Friday.

According to the report, the figure represents a 0.31 percentage point increase from the 15.38 per cent recorded in March 2026.

It stated that on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate stood at 15.69 per cent compared to 26.82 per cent recorded in April 2025.

The report also showed that on a month-on-month basis, headline inflation in April stood at 2.13 per cent.

This, according to the NBS, was 2.05 percentage points lower than the 4.18 per cent recorded in March 2026.

“This means that in April 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate recorded in March 2026,” the report stated.

It identified food and non-alcoholic beverages, restaurants and accommodation services, and transport as the major contributors to headline inflation on a year-on-year basis.

The report said the Consumer Price Index increased to 138.3 in April from 135.4 recorded in March 2026.

Food inflation stood at 16.06 per cent year-on-year in April 2026 compared to 24.68 per cent recorded in April 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation stood at 3.63 per cent in April, lower than the 4.17 per cent recorded in March.

The NBS attributed the rise in food prices to increases in the cost of millet, yam flour, ginger, beef, garri, beans, tomatoes and other staple food items.

The report said core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 15.86 per cent year-on-year in April.

This represented a decline from the 26.05 per cent recorded in April 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, core inflation stood at 1.03 per cent in April, compared to 4.03 per cent in March.

The report further showed that urban inflation stood at 15.40 per cent year-on-year, while rural inflation stood at 16.36 per cent.

According to the NBS, Sokoto recorded the highest year-on-year headline inflation rate at 25.74 per cent, followed by Bauchi and Zamfara.

Edo recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation rate at 5.91 per cent, followed by Borno and Jigawa.

The report added that Enugu recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation rate at 32.67 per cent, followed by Kwara and Adamawa. (NAN)

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