Nigeria’s annual inflation eased marginally to 15.39% in August 2026 from 15.43% in July, marking a slight improvement in price pressures, the National Bureau of Statistics said in its Consumer Price Index report released Tuesday. The rate was also well below the 23.14% recorded in August 2025.
The CPI, which measures movements in the prices of goods and services, increased to 146.3 points in August from 145.3 points a month earlier, a gain of 1.0 point. On a monthly basis, however, inflation slowed substantially, with prices rising 0.71% in August compared with 1.57% in July. The bureau said this indicated that the average price level grew more slowly in August than it had in the previous month.
Average inflation over the 12 months through August stood at 16.30%, down 12.02 percentage points from the 28.32% average recorded over the comparable period a year earlier.
Urban inflation was 15.88% year-on-year in August. Monthly urban price growth dropped to 0.28% from 1.90% in July, while the 12-month average urban rate declined to 16.28% from 29.73% in the corresponding period of 2025. In rural areas, annual inflation came in at 14.23%. Unlike the urban measure, rural monthly inflation accelerated to 1.79% in August from 0.78% in July. The rural 12-month average was 16.02%, below the 26.47% recorded a year earlier.
Food inflation also moderated, falling to 19.57% year-on-year in August from 25.30% in the same month of 2025. Monthly food-price growth plunged to 1.02% from 5.56% in July. The bureau linked the movement to price changes in palm oil, carrots, peppers, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, melon, fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken and turkey. Food prices still increased during August, but at a slower rate than in July.
