Nigeria’s headline inflation has dropped from 15.91 per cent in June 2026 to 15.43 per cent in July.
The report of the decline was contained in the latest consumer price index (CPI) report just released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to the report, food inflation is sustaining the cost of living pressure on households.
NBS says, food inflation for the month of July accelerated to 5.56 per cent from 3 75 per cent recorded in June 2026. On year-on-year basis, it rose from 17.52 per cent in July 2025 to 20.31 per cent in July 2026.
This year alone food inflation has witnessed a consecutive six months of spike, rising from 8.89 per cent in January to 12.12 per cent in February, to 14.31 per cent in March and up further to 16.06 per cent in April.
In May, it jumped 16.96 per cent before reaching 17.52 per cent in June and in July, it hit 20.31 per cent.
The problem of food insecurity in Nigeria has remained a paradox.
Although the food available in the market, but the prices have continued to rise, raising the question of what exactly could be driving rising prices.
Stakeholders believe one of the major drivers of food prices in the country is high cost of transportation arising from the high cost of fuel.
Pump prices of petroleum products, especially premium motor spirit,(PMS), otherwise called fuel, has been rising since the removal of fuel subsidy in May 2023.
The situation was made worse by the crisis in the Middle East which drove up the global crude oil prices.
One striking and perhaps uncomfortable finding in the report is the enormous disparity between states.
While national headline inflation stood at 15.43 per cent, Adamawa recorded 33.03 per cent, more than twice the national rate.
Adamawa’s food inflation was even more alarming: 51.36 per cent year-on-year.
Katsina recorded food inflation of 30.84 per cent and Zamfara 30.65 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, Borno recorded negative 0.31 per cent food inflation, while Nasarawa recorded 6.88 per cent.
