Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased slightly to 15.43 percent in July 2026, from 15.91 percent recorded in June, even as food inflation rose to 20.31 percent from 17.52 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report has shown.
According to the report published on Monday, the July headline inflation rate was also lower than the 24.94 percent recorded in July 2025.
The Bureau attributed the rise in food inflation to changes in the average prices of crayfish, fresh pepper, fresh onions, fresh carrots, rice, water yam, fresh tomatoes, garri, plantain, beef, eggs, guinea corn, ginger and plantain flour, among others.
BusinessDay’s analysis of the report showed that food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Adamawa at 51.36 percent, followed by Katsina at 30.84 percent and Zamfara at 30.65 percent. Borno, at -0.31 percent, Nasarawa at 6.88 percent and Kebbi at 12.50 percent recorded the slowest rises in food inflation.
On a month-on-month basis, July 2026 food inflation was highest in Adamawa at 17.02 percent, Lagos at 13.48 percent and Borno at 13.26 percent, while Jigawa at -3.60 percent, Kebbi at -3.67 percent and Bauchi at -1.85 percent recorded the lowest rates.
The NBS stated that the month-on-month headline inflation rate in July 2026 was 1.57 percent, representing a 0.09 percentage point decline from the 1.66 percent recorded in June.
At the divisional level, the three major contributors to headline inflation were food and non-alcoholic beverages, restaurants and accommodation services, and transport.
The least contributors were recreation, sport and culture; alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics; and insurance and financial services.
Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 14.97 percent in July 2026 on a year-on-year basis.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation was 0.15 percent in July 2026, down by 1.51 percentage points compared to June 2026.
On a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate in July 2026 was 16.12 percent. On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.90 percent in July 2026, down by 0.23 percentage points from 2.13 percent recorded in June.
The rural inflation rate stood at 13.77 percent in July 2026 on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, rural inflation rose to 0.78 percent, up by 0.25 percentage points from 0.52 percent in June.
The NBS report showed that the all-items inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Adamawa at 33.03 percent, Yobe at 25.21 percent and Anambra at 23.99 percent.
Nasarawa at 7.86 percent, Kebbi at 9.12 percent and Borno at 9.12 percent recorded the lowest increases in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis.
On a month-on-month basis, July 2026 recorded the highest headline inflation increases in Adamawa at 12.48 percent, Anambra at 9.95 percent and Delta at 9.54 percent.
Niger at -5.86 percent, Enugu at -5.71 percent and Kebbi at -4.89 percent recorded the lowest month-on-month inflation rates, according to the report.