Nigeria's Inflation Drops to 15.39% in August as Food Prices Ease
By Aboki Forex —
Nigeria's headline inflation rate fell to 15.39% year-on-year in August 2026, down from 15.43% in July, according to the Consumer Price Index report published by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The figure is well below the 23.14% recorded in August 2025, extending the slowdown in annual price growth. The CPI, which tracks what households pay for goods and services, rose to 146.3 points in August from 145.3 points in July.
Food inflation slows sharply
Month-on-month headline inflation eased to 0.71% in August from 1.57% in July. Prices still rose, but at a much slower pace.
Food inflation stood at 19.57% year-on-year, down from 25.30% in August 2025. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation dropped to 1.02% from 5.56% in July, a fall of 4.55 percentage points.
The NBS linked the slowdown to changes in average prices of palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, melon, fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken and turkey meat.
The average annual food inflation rate for the 12 months ending August 2026 was 15.70%, compared with 29.86% in August 2025.
Wide gaps across states
Lagos recorded the highest headline inflation year-on-year at 23.68%, followed by Zamfara at 22.56% and Enugu at 22.06%. Sokoto had the lowest at 2.11%, ahead of Kebbi at 3.72% and Jigawa at 3.81%.
On a month-on-month basis, Rivers posted the highest headline inflation at 6.92%, then Osun at 5.61% and Kano at 5.59%. Anambra recorded the lowest at -8.83%, followed by Bauchi at -7.13% and Borno at -7.09%.
Food inflation stayed high in some states. Adamawa led at 38.85%, Zamfara followed at 37.96% and Bayelsa at 36.20%. Borno recorded -4.04%, Jigawa -0.23% and Kebbi 3.47%.
For month-on-month food inflation, Katsina was highest at 9.48%, then Rivers at 8.86% and Osun at 8.32%. Taraba recorded the lowest at -12.42%, followed by Borno at -12.15% and Bauchi at -8.88%.
What it means
Slower inflation gives the CBN room to hold or cut rates, which could ease borrowing costs for businesses. But the state-level numbers show the relief is uneven. Households in Lagos, Adamawa and Zamfara still face some of the sharpest price pressures in the country.