Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined to 14.63 per cent in September 2026 from 15.39 per cent in August, as falling food prices eased pressure on consumers, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS, in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Thursday, said the September inflation rate was also lower than the 20.98 per cent recorded in September 2025.
The bureau disclosed that month-on-month headline inflation slowed to 0.06 per cent in September from 0.71 per cent in August, indicating a slower increase in the general price level.
Food inflation also declined to 19.59 per cent year-on-year in September, compared with 20.16 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation dropped to -1.55 per cent from 1.02 per cent in August.
The NBS attributed the decline in food prices to changes in the average prices of several food items, including local rice, maize flour, guinea corn flour, eggs, onions, palm oil, potatoes, tomatoes, okra and plantain.
However, core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, rose to 12.95 per cent year-on-year in September. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation increased to 1.11 per cent from -0.06 per cent in August.
The report identified food and non-alcoholic beverages, with a contribution of 5.85 per cent, as the largest contributor to headline inflation. Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 1.89 per cent, while transport accounted for 1.56 per cent.
A breakdown of inflation across the country showed that Imo State recorded the highest year-on-year all-items inflation at 30.04 per cent, followed by Enugu at 22.38 per cent and Niger at 22.05 per cent.
Taraba recorded the lowest year-on-year headline inflation at 1.78 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 2.84 per cent and Adamawa at 3.66 per cent.
For food inflation, Lagos recorded the highest year-on-year rate at 34.40 per cent, followed by Imo at 33.79 per cent and Ondo at 31.49 per cent.
In contrast, Taraba recorded a food inflation rate of -7.47 per cent, while Yobe posted -0.37 per cent and Borno recorded 2.18 per cent.
The report further showed that urban inflation stood at 15.64 per cent year-on-year in September, while rural inflation was 12.46 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation rose to 0.53 per cent from 0.28 per cent in August, while rural inflation fell to -0.89 per cent from 1.79 per cent.
The September report follows the NBS’s rebasing of the Consumer Price Index to a 2024 base year, using 2023 as the weight reference period.
The Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, issued the report on October 15, 2026.
END
