Nigeria’s inflation rises to 15.69% in April 2026 as food, transport costs surge

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate climbed to 15.69 per cent in April 2026, up from 15.38 per cent in March 2026, driven by higher costs for food, transport, hospitality, and healthcare. The National Bureau of Statistics released the data in its Consumer Price Index report on Friday.

The NBS said the headline rate increased by 0.31 per cent month-on-month. The Consumer Price Index rose to 138.3 in April, a 2.9-point jump from 135.4 in March. Despite the annual rise, monthly price growth slowed. On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at 2.13 per cent, down sharply from 4.18 per cent in March.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the biggest driver, contributing 6.40 percentage points to the overall rate. Restaurants and accommodation services added 3.56 points, transport contributed 1.70 points, and health added 1.21 points. Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels accounted for 0.77 points.

Food inflation on a yearly basis hit 16.06 per cent in April, lower than 24.68 per cent a year earlier. On a monthly basis, food inflation slowed to 3.63 per cent from 4.17 per cent in March. The NBS attributed the rise to higher prices for staples such as millet, yam flour, fresh ginger, beef, garri, yam tubers, fresh pepper, crayfish, cassava tubers, beans, Irish potatoes, tomatoes, wheat grain, soybeans, guinea corn, plantain, and carrots.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile farm produce and energy, stood at 15.86 per cent year-on-year in April, down from 26.05 per cent in April 2025. On a monthly basis, core inflation slowed sharply to 1.03 per cent from 4.03 per cent in March.

Farm produce inflation rose 19.8 per cent year-on-year and six per cent month-on-month. Energy inflation recorded 4.6 per cent annual growth and eight per cent monthly growth. Services inflation stood at 16.7 per cent year-on-year and 2.1 per cent month-on-month. Goods inflation was 15.7 per cent annually and 3.2 per cent monthly. Imported food inflation stood at 10.5 per cent year-on-year and 4.4 per cent month-on-month.

At the state level, Sokoto recorded the highest year-on-year all-items inflation at 25.74 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 22.52 per cent and Zamfara at 22.03 per cent. Edo had the slowest rise at 5.91 per cent, followed by Borno at 6.72 per cent and Jigawa at 7.04 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, Niger recorded the highest all-items inflation at 5.66 per cent, followed by Kano at 4.50 per cent and Plateau at 4.39 per cent. Bayelsa recorded the slowest increase at 0.64 per cent.

For food inflation, Enugu had the highest year-on-year increase at 32.67 per cent, followed by Kwara at 30.77 per cent and Adamawa at 30.14 per cent. Borno recorded the slowest food inflation at 1.67 per cent. The NBS cautioned that interstate comparisons should be interpreted with care due to differences in consumption patterns and expenditure weights.

The Financial Market Dealers Association had projected headline inflation of 16.42 per cent for April 2026, citing sustained pressure from food prices, higher energy costs, and elevated global commodity prices. The actual data came in lower than that forecast, but food and energy remained key drivers.