The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined slightly to 15.06 per cent in February 2026, from 15.10 per cent recorded in January 2026.
The Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, disclosed this in the latest Consumer Price Index report.
He explained that “the February report reflects the recently completed rebasing exercise, with a new CPI base year of 2024 and a weight reference period of 2023.”
Headline Inflation Rate
According to the report, “On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate for February 2026 stood at 15.06%, fell by 0.04% and 11.21% when compared to 15.10% and 26.27% recorded in January 2026 and February 2025; respectively.
“The month-on-month headline inflation rate in February 2026 was 2.01%, which was 4.89% higher than the rate recorded in January 2026 (-2.88%).”
Contributions to Headline Inflation
At the divisional level, the Bureau said that “three major contributors to the headline inflation were Food and non-alcoholic Beverages: 6.03%, Restaurants & Accommodation Services: 1.95%, and Transport: 1.61%; while the least contributors were Recreation, Sport, and Culture: 0.05%, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics: 0.06%, and Insurance and Financial Services: 0.07.”
Food Inflation Rate
The food inflation rate in February 2026 was 12.12% on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in February 2026 was –4.69%, up by 10.70% compared to January 2026 (-6.02%).
According to the Bureau, the increase can be attributed to the rate of increase in the average prices of Beans, Carrots, Okazi Leaf, Cassava Tuber, Crayfish, Millet Flour, Yam Flour, Snails, Avenger (Ogbono/Apon) – dried ungrinded, cow peas, among others.
Core Inflation Rate:
Core Inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 15.88% in February 2026 on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 0.89% in February 2026, up by 2.58% compared to January 2026 (-1.69%).
Newly introduced indices
The inflation rate of the sub-indices for February 2026 shows that the monthly change recorded were Farm Produce (3.7%), Energy (-0.2%), Services (-0.3%), Goods (2.8%) and Imported Food (0.6%).
Meanwhile, the inflation rate on a year-on-year basis recorded were as follows; Farm Produce (11.8%), Energy (126%), Services (17.9%), Goods (12.7%) and Imported Food (6.4%).
Urban and Rural Inflation Rates
On a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate in February 2026 was 15.53%. On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.55% in February 2026, up by 5.27% compared to January 2026 (-2.72%).
The rural inflation rate in February 2026 was 13.93% on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in February 2026 was 0.71%, up by 4.00% compared to January 2026 (-3.29%).
State-Level Analyses
In analysing price movements under this section, it should be noted that CPI is weighted by consumption expenditure patterns that differ across States and locations. Accordingly, the weight assigned to a particular Food or Non-Food item may differ from State to State making interstate comparisons of consumption basket inadvisable and potentially misleading.
All Items Inflation
The Bureau reports that “In February 2026, the All-Items inflation rate on a Year-on-Year basis was highest in Kogi (23.57%), Benue (22.85%), and Anambra (22.09%), while Katsina (7.78%), Imo (11.66%) and Ebonyi (11.71%) recorded the lowest rise in Headline inflation on a Year-on-Year basis. On a Month-on-Month basis, however, February 2026 recorded the highest increases in Enugu (5.92%), Ogun (4.39%) and Anambra (4.11%), while Zamfara (-2.14%), Bauchi (-1.23%), and Katsina (-1.06%) recorded a decline in the Month-on-Month inflation.”
Food Inflation
State-level analyses of the food index in February 2026, Food inflation on a Year-on-Year basis was highest in Kogi (26.91%), Adamawa (23.12%), and Benue (21.89%), while Katsina (5.09%), Bauchi (7.09%), and Imo (7.65%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation on a Year-on-Year basis.
On a Month-on-Month basis, however, February 2026 Food inflation was highest in Bayelsa (8.81%), Ebonyi (8.51%) and Edo (7.72%), while Katsina (-0.70%), Nasarawa (0.17%), and Kano (1.39%) recorded a decline in Food inflation on a Month-on-Month basis.