Nigeria’s inflation rate slows to 15.91 %

…As food index rises

By Elizabeth Adegbesan

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has said headline inflation rate slowed to 15.91 per cent in June from 15.93 per cent in May.

NBS disclosed this in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Wednesday, noting that the food index increased 17.52 per cent in June from 16.96 per cent in May 2026.

The decline in inflation rate was primarily driven by a 9.49 per cent decrease in the core basket to 15.92 per cent in June 2026 from 16.82 per cent in May 2026.

Despite the moderation in the inflation rate, the food index increased by 0.56 percentage points to 17.52 per cent in June from 16.96 per cent in May 2026 due to the rate of change in the average prices of crayfish, fresh pepper, fresh tomatoes, dried green peas, yam flour (sold loose), water yam, beef, bananas, cassava flour, cowpeas, garri, Irish potatoes, yam tubers, etc.

NBS said, “In June 2026, the headline inflation rate was 15.91 per cent, down from 15.93 per cent in May 2026, and stood at 25.29 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (June 2025).

“Looking at the movement, the June 2026.

The headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.02 per cent compared to the May 2026 headline inflation rate.

“On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in June 2026 was 1.66 per cent, which was 0.09 per cent lower than the rate recorded in May 2026 (1.75 per cent).

“This means that in June 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in May 2026.”

On food inflation, NBS said, “The food inflation rate in June 2026 was 17.52 per cent on a year-on-year basis and stood at 25.41 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (June 2025).

“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in June 2026 was 3.75 per cent, up by 0.77 percentage points from May 2026 (2.98 per cent).”

The Bureau mentioned that in June 2026, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi (53.02 per cent), Niger (43.83 per cent), and Benue (40.83 per cent).

But Katsina (19.15 per cent), Rivers (23.81 per cent) and Imo (24.60 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.

“On a month-on-month basis, however, June 2026 food inflation was highest in Katsina (16.82 per cent), Kebbi (9.79 per cent) and Niger (8.96 per cent), while Borno (-3.54 per cent), Benue (-2.36 per cent), and Bayelsa (-1.34 per cent) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a month-on-month basis,” NBS added.

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