Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased slightly to 15.06 per cent in February 2026, down from 15.10 per cent in January, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The bureau said the marginal decline indicates a modest slowdown in the pace of price increases across the economy.
The report showed that the CPI rose to 130.0 in February, up from 127.4 in January, representing 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.
On a year-on-year basis, inflation fell significantly. The NBS said the February 2026 inflation rate was 11.21 percentage points lower than the 26.27 per cent recorded in February 2025.
However, price pressures intensified on a monthly basis. Month-on-month inflation stood at 2.01 per cent in February, compared with a 2.88 per cent decline recorded in January, indicating that prices rose faster during the month.
Food prices remained the largest driver of inflation, contributing the biggest share to the headline index. According to the report, food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 6.03 percentage points of overall inflation.
Other contributors included restaurants and accommodation services (1.95 percentage points), transport (1.61 percentage points), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.27 percentage points) and education services (0.93 percentage points).
Urban vs rural inflation
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, compared with 28.49 per cent in February 2025. On a monthly basis, urban inflation rose to 2.55 per cent, up from a 2.72 per cent decline in January.
Rural inflation also declined on an annual basis but increased compared with the previous month. It stood at 13.93 per cent year-on-year, down from 22.73 per cent recorded in February 2025.
Month-on-month rural inflation rose to 0.71 per cent in February, compared with a 3.29 per cent decline in January.
Food inflation trends
Food inflation, which represents a significant share of household spending, also moderated sharply on a yearly basis.
The NBS said the food inflation rate stood at 12.12 per cent year-on-year in February 2026, compared with 26.98 per cent in the same period of 2025.
Despite the annual slowdown, food prices rose sharply within the month. Month-on-month food inflation increased to 4.69 per cent, compared with a 6.02 per cent decline recorded in January.
The bureau attributed the rise to increases in the average prices of items such as beans, carrots, okazi leaves, cassava tubers, crayfish, millet flour, yam flour, snails and dried ogbono.
Core inflation
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, down from 25.66 per cent in February 2025.
On a monthly basis, however, the rate increased to 0.89 per cent, compared with a 1.69 per cent decline recorded in January.
Meanwhile, the 12-month average inflation rate for the period ending February 2026 rose to 21.03 per cent, up from 18.01 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
State-level variations
The report also highlighted significant variations in inflation across states.
On a year-on-year basis, Kogi State recorded the highest all-items inflation rate at 23.57 per cent, followed by Benue State at 22.85 per cent and Anambra State at 22.09 per cent.
In contrast, Katsina State recorded the lowest rate at 7.78 per cent, followed by Imo State at 11.66 per cent and Ebonyi State at 11.71 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, Enugu State recorded the highest inflation increase at 5.92 per cent, followed by Ogun State at 4.39 per cent and Anambra at 4.11 per cent.
Meanwhile, Zamfara State recorded the sharpest monthly decline at –2.14 per cent, followed by Bauchi State at –1.23 per cent and Katsina at –1.06 per cent.
For food inflation, Kogi recorded the highest year-on-year rate at 26.91 per cent, followed by Adamawa State at 23.12 per cent and Benue at 21.89 per cent.
Conversely, 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 NBS noted that inflation comparisons across states should be interpreted cautiously because consumption patterns and CPI weights vary across locations.
