Nigeria’s Food Inflation Slows To 1.02% In August – NBS

Nigeria’s food inflation rate slowed sharply to 1.02% month-on-month in August 2026, representing a 4.55 percentage-point decline from the 5.56% recorded in July.

The latest figure was contained in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

On a year-on-year basis, food inflation stood at 19.57% in August 2026, down from 25.30% recorded in August 2025.

The NBS said the decline in the monthly rate was mainly driven by changes in the average prices of several food items.

These include 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.

According to the bureau, “the average prices of food items are increasing at a decreasing rate in August 2026.”

The average annual food inflation rate for the 12 months ending August 2026 stood at 15.70%, representing a 14.15 percentage-point decline compared with the 29.86% recorded in August 2025.

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The NBS also reported a decline in core inflation, which excludes prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy.

The “All items less farm produces and energy” or core inflation stood at 13.29% year-on-year in August 2026, compared with 22.93% recorded in August 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, core inflation stood at -0.06% in August, down from 0.15% in July.

The bureau said the average 12-month annual core inflation rate was 17.30% for the 12 months ending August 2026, representing an 8.85 percentage-point decline from the 26.15% recorded in August 2025.

The NBS said Lagos recorded the highest year-on-year all-items inflation rate in August at 23.68%, followed by Zamfara at 22.56% and Enugu at 22.06%.

Sokoto recorded the lowest year-on-year headline inflation rate at 2.11%, followed by Kebbi at 3.72% and Jigawa at 3.81%.

On a month-on-month basis, Rivers recorded the highest headline inflation increase at 6.92%, followed by Osun at 5.61% and Kano at 5.59%.

Anambra recorded the lowest month-on-month inflation rate at -8.83%, followed by Bauchi at -7.13% and Borno at -7.09%.

For food inflation, Adamawa recorded the highest year-on-year rate at 38.85%, followed by Zamfara at 37.96% and Bayelsa at 36.20%.

Borno recorded the lowest year-on-year food inflation rate at -4.04%, followed by Jigawa at -0.23% and Kebbi at 3.47%.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Katsina at 9.48%, followed by Rivers at 8.86% and Osun at 8.32%.

Taraba recorded the lowest month-on-month food inflation rate at -12.42%, followed by Borno at -12.15% and Bauchi at -8.88%.

The NBS cautioned against direct comparisons of consumption baskets across states, noting that the Consumer Price Index is weighted according to consumption expenditure patterns, which vary across states and locations.

The bureau explained that “the weight assigned to a particular Food or Non-Food item may differ from State to State,” making interstate comparisons of consumption baskets “inadvisable and potentially misleading.”