Nigeria’s headline inflation rate moderated to 15.1 percent in January 2026, down slightly from 15.15 percent recorded in December 2025, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
“The January 2026 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.05% compared to the December 2025 Headline inflation rate,” the NBS said.
“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 12.51% lower than the rate recorded in January 2025 (27.61%). This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in January 2026 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., January 2025).
“On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in January 2026 was -2.88%, which was 3.42% lower than the rate recorded in December 2025 (0.54%).
“This means that in January 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in December 2025.”
Food inflation also recorded a substantial slowdown. On a year-on-year basis, the food inflation rate stood at 8.89 percent in January 2026, down from 29.63 percent in December 2025 — a decrease of 20.74 percentage points.
Month-on-month, food inflation declined by 6.02 percent, compared to -0.36 percent in December 2025. The NBS attributed the drop to falling average prices of key food items including water yam, eggs, green peas, groundnut oil, soya beans, palm oil, maize, guinea corn, beans, beef, melon (egusi), cassava tuber, and cowpeas.
The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending January 2026 stood at 20.29 percent, which was 18.18 percentage points lower than the 38.47 percent recorded in January 2025.
On a year-on-year basis, Kogi recorded the highest food inflation rate at 19.84 percent, followed by Benue at 18.38 percent and Adamawa at 17.29 percent.
In contrast, Ebonyi (1.69 percent), Abia (3.23 percent), and Imo (3.74 percent) posted the slowest increases in food prices over the same period.
On a month-on-month basis, Imo (-1.26 percent), Akwa Ibom (-2.21 percent), and Zamfara (-2.96 percent) recorded the highest food inflation rates. Meanwhile, Yobe (-11.88 percent), Nasarawa (-9.06 percent), and Sokoto (-8.31 percent) experienced the most significant month-on-month declines in food inflation.
The latest figures suggest easing price pressures at the start of 2026, particularly in the food sector, offering cautious optimism for consumers and policymakers seeking sustained economic stability.
Melissa Enoch
