The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday in its latest inflation report stated that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased marginally to 15.39 per cent year-on-year in August 2026, from 15.43 per cent recorded in July.
The NBS also reported a significant moderation in month-on-month inflation, which fell to 0.71 per cent in August from 1.57 per cent in July, representing a 0.86 percentage-point decline.
Food inflation also slowed during the month, standing at 19.57 per cent year-on-year, while the month-on-month rate dropped sharply to 1.02 per cent from 5.56 per cent in July.
The statistics agency said the development indicated that food prices continued to rise in August, but at a slower pace.
“The food inflation rate in August 2026 was 19.57 per cent on a year-on-year basis and stood at 25.30 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (August 2025),” the NBS said.
“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2026 was 1.02 per cent, down by 4.55 percentage points from July 2026 (5.56 per cent). This shows that the average prices of food items are increasing at a decreasing rate in August 2026.”
The NBS attributed the moderation in food inflation largely to changes in the average prices of several food items, including palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, melon (egusi), fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken and turkey meat.
It said the average annual food inflation rate for the 12 months ending August 2026 stood at 15.70 per cent, representing a 14.15 percentage-point decline from the 29.86 per cent recorded in August 2025.
Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 13.29 per cent year-on-year in August 2026.
The rate represented a sharp decline from the 22.93 per cent recorded in August 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation stood at -0.06 per cent in August, compared with 0.15 per cent in July.
The average 12-month annual core inflation rate for the period ending August 2026 was 17.30 per cent, down by 8.85 percentage points from 26.15 per cent recorded in August 2025.
Inflationary pressures continued to vary significantly across the country.
On a year-on-year basis, Lagos recorded the highest headline inflation rate in August at 23.68 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 22.56 per cent and Enugu at 22.06 per cent.
The lowest year-on-year headline inflation rates were recorded in Sokoto at 2.11 per cent, Kebbi at 3.72 per cent and Jigawa at 3.81 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, Rivers recorded the highest headline inflation rate at 6.92 per cent, followed by Osun at 5.61 per cent and Kano at 5.59 per cent.
Anambra recorded the sharpest month-on-month decline at -8.83 per cent, followed by Bauchi at -7.13 per cent and Borno at -7.09 per cent.
Food inflation also showed wide variations across states.
Adamawa recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation at 38.85 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 37.96 per cent and Bayelsa at 36.20 per cent.
The lowest year-on-year food inflation rates were recorded in Borno at -4.04 per cent, Jigawa at -0.23 per cent and Kebbi at 3.47 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, Katsina recorded the highest food inflation at 9.48 per cent, followed by Rivers at 8.86 per cent and Osun at 8.32 per cent.
Taraba recorded the largest decline at -12.42 per cent, followed by Borno at -12.15 per cent and Bauchi at -8.88 per cent.