Odimmegwa/Johnpeter Abuja
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell to 15.43 per cent in July 2026, down from 15.91 per cent recorded in June, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The figure also represents a significant decline from the 24.94 per cent headline inflation recorded in July 2025.
The NBS, in the report issued by the Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Adeyemi Adeniran, said the Consumer Price Index increased to 145.3 points in July 2026, representing a 2.2-point rise from the preceding month.
The latest figures followed the completion of the CPI rebasing exercise, with the new index adopting 2024 as the base year and 2023 as the weight reference period.
According to the Report, “despite the decline in annual headline inflation, pressure on food prices intensified during the month.
“The month-on-month headline inflation rate stood at 1.57 per cent in July compared with 1.66 per cent in June, indicating a 0.09 percentage-point decline”.
Food prices remain major inflation driver. Food inflation rose sharply on a month-on-month basis to 5.56 per cent in July from 3.75 per cent in June, an increase of 1.82 percentage points.
However, food inflation on a year-on-year basis declined to 20.31 per cent in July from 26.20 per cent recorded in July 2025.
According to the NBS, the month-on-month increase was driven by changes in the average prices of commodities including crayfish, fresh pepper, fresh onions, carrots, rice, water yam, fresh tomatoes, garri, plantain, beef, eggs, guinea corn, ginger and plantain flour.
“Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to headline inflation, accounting for 6.18 per cent at the divisional level.
“Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 1.99 per cent, while transport accounted for 1.64 per cent.
“Recreation, sport and culture recorded the lowest contribution at 0.05 per cent, followed by alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics at 0.06 per cent, and insurance and financial services at 0.07 per cent”, it stated.
The NBS also reported a decline in core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices.
Core inflation stood at 14.97 per cent year-on-year in July 2026.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation fell to 0.15 per cent from 1.66 per cent in June, representing a 1.51 percentage-point decline.
The newly introduced sub-indices showed that farm produce recorded a monthly inflation rate of 4.66 per cent, while energy recorded a negative rate of -2.39 per cent.
Services rose by 0.49 per cent, goods by 1.70 per cent and imported food by 1.19 per cent during the month.
On a year-on-year basis, the Report indicated that “farm produce recorded the highest inflation rate among the new sub-indices at 19.62 per cent, followed by services at 16.00 per cent, goods at 15.33 per cent, imported food at 13.24 per cent and energy at 4.40 per cent”.
On Urban inflation, the NBS said that Urban inflation was higher than rural rate.
The report showed that inflation remained higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
“Urban inflation stood at 16.12 per cent year-on-year in July, while the month-on-month rate declined to 1.90 per cent from 2.13 per cent in June.
Rural inflation was 13.77 per cent year-on-year, while the month-on-month rate increased to 0.78 per cent from 0.52 per cent in June.
Adamawa, Yobe, Anambra recorded highest headline inflation at the State level. Adamawa recorded the highest year-on-year headline inflation rate in July at 33.03 per cent, followed by Yobe at 25.21 per cent and Anambra at 23.99 per cent.
However, Nasarawa State according to the Report, recorded the lowest year-on-year headline inflation at 7.86 per cent, followed by Kebbi and Borno, both at 9.12 per cent.
It said, “On a month-on-month basis, Adamawa also recorded the highest increase at 12.48 per cent, followed by Anambra at 9.95 per cent and Delta at 9.54 per cent.
“Niger recorded the lowest month-on-month movement at -5.86 per cent, followed by Enugu at -5.71 per cent and Kebbi at -4.89 per cent”.
On the state that led food Inflation, the NBS stated that Adamawa recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation rate at 51.36 per cent in July, followed by Katsina at 30.84 per cent and Zamfara at 30.65 per cent.
Borno recorded a negative year-on-year food inflation rate of -0.31 per cent, while Nasarawa and Kebbi recorded 6.88 per cent and 12.50 per cent respectively.
“On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Adamawa at 17.02 per cent, followed by Lagos at 13.48 per cent and Borno at 13.26 per cent.
“Jigawa recorded the lowest month-on-month food inflation at -3.68 per cent, followed by Kebbi at -3.67 per cent and Bauchi at -1.85 per cent”.
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