Nigeria’s headline inflation eased slightly in February 2026, offering a modest sign of price stabilization, though month-on-month data suggests that underlying cost pressures remain present.
According to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics, headline inflation slowed to 15.06% year-on-year in February 2026, marginally lower than the 15.10% recorded in January. The decline indicates that the pace of price increases compared with the same period last year has moderated.
However, the monthly data reveals a different dynamic. Inflation accelerated on a month-on-month basis to 2.01% in February, reversing the -2.88% contraction recorded in January. This suggests that prices rose noticeably during the month even as the annual comparison showed moderation.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks changes in the average price level of goods and services consumed by households, increased to 130.0 in February from 127.4 in January, reflecting the month’s price gains.
Inflation Trends
Inflation trends across urban and rural areas followed a similar pattern of easing year-on-year but strengthening month-on-month. Urban inflation stood at 15.53% year-on-year, a sharp drop from 28.49% recorded in February 2025, while rural inflation slowed to 13.93%, compared with 22.73% a year earlier.
Monthly price pressures, however, rose across both segments. Urban inflation climbed to 2.55% month-on-month in February, up from -2.72% in January, while rural inflation increased to 0.71%, reversing -3.29% recorded in the previous month.
Food prices—typically the largest driver of inflation in Nigeria—also reflected this mixed pattern. Food inflation slowed significantly on a yearly basis to 12.12%, compared with 26.98% in February 2025. Yet on a monthly basis, food inflation surged to 4.69%, a sharp turnaround from -6.02% recorded in January.
The increase was driven by higher prices for staple items including beans, cassava tuber, millet flour, yam flour, crayfish, cowpeas, carrots, okazi leaves, snails and ogbono.
On a rolling basis, the twelve-month average food inflation rate stood at 19.08% in February 2026, significantly lower than 37.40% recorded in February 2025, reflecting a broader slowdown in food price growth over the past year.
Core inflation—which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices—also moderated on an annual basis while rising month-on-month. Core inflation was 15.88% year-on-year, down from 25.66% in February 2025, but increased to 0.89% month-on-month, compared with -1.69% recorded in January.
The twelve-month average core inflation rate came in at 22.00%, lower than the 27.25% recorded a year earlier.
Overall, the February data highlights a gradual cooling in inflation when viewed over a longer horizon, but the rebound in monthly price pressures suggests that the disinflation trend remains fragile as Nigeria’s economy continues to adjust to currency movements, food supply dynamics, and energy costs.
