Nigeria’s inflation declines to 15.43% in July as food prices soar

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell to 15.43 per cent in July 2026, extending the recent moderation in overall price pressures, even as food inflation accelerated sharply during the month.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday.

The July headline inflation rate declined from 15.91 per cent recorded in June and was significantly lower than the 24.94 per cent recorded in July 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation also moderated to 1.57 per cent in July from 1.66 per cent in June, indicating a slower increase in the average price level.

The latest figure represents another decline from the 15.93 per cent recorded in May, when headline inflation reached its highest level in the three-month period before easing to 15.91 per cent in June.

However, despite the moderation in headline inflation, food prices continued to exert pressure on households.

Food inflation rises

Food inflation increased to 20.31 per cent year-on-year in July from 17.52 per cent in June.

The July figure was, however, lower than the 26.20 per cent recorded in July 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation rose sharply to 5.56 per cent in July from 3.75 per cent in June.

The development indicates that food prices increased at a substantially faster pace during the month despite the decline in overall inflation.

The divergence between headline and food inflation suggests that households, particularly those that spend a large proportion of their income on food and other essential items, continue to face significant cost pressures.

Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes farm produce and energy, moderated to 14.97 per cent year-on-year in July from 15.92 per cent in June.

It was also significantly lower than the 23.95 per cent recorded in July 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, core inflation fell to 0.15 per cent in July from 1.66 per cent in June, indicating a considerable easing in price pressures outside volatile farm produce and energy components.

The NBS data also showed differing inflation trends between urban and rural areas.

Urban inflation stood at 16.12 per cent year-on-year in July, compared with 25.26 per cent recorded in July 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation moderated to 1.90 per cent from 2.13 per cent in June.

In rural areas, inflation stood at 13.77 per cent year-on-year in July, compared with 23.95 per cent in July 2025.

However, rural month-on-month inflation increased to 0.78 per cent in July from 0.52 per cent in June.

The figures show that annual inflation remained higher in urban areas, while monthly price increases were considerably lower in rural areas.

The NBS’ 12-month headline inflation series shows that inflation has fallen substantially from 24.94 per cent in July 2025 to 15.43 per cent in July 2026.

Inflation declined from 24.94 per cent in July 2025 to 23.14 per cent in August, 20.98 per cent in September, 18.97 per cent in October and 17.33 per cent in November.

It fell further to 15.15 per cent in December 2025, 15.10 per cent in January 2026 and 15.06 per cent in February.

Inflation subsequently increased gradually to 15.38 per cent in March, 15.69 per cent in April, 15.93 per cent in May and 15.91 per cent in June.

The decline to 15.43 per cent in July therefore marks a reversal of the increases recorded between March and May.

However, the sharp increase in monthly food inflation indicates that the moderation in headline inflation has not translated into broad-based relief for households, particularly in food-related expenditure.

The NBS CPI framework tracks headline, food, core, urban and rural inflation, among other price indices, following the rebasing of the consumer price index.