Nigeria’s Headline Inflation Falls to 14.63% in September 2026

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell to 14.63 per cent in September 2026 from 15.39 per cent in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in its Consumer Price Index report for September 2026. The report was released on Thursday, 15 October by Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran.

The September rate was also lower than the 20.98 per cent recorded in September 2025. Month-on-month headline inflation declined to 0.06 per cent in September from 0.71 per cent in August, a decrease of 0.65 percentage points.

Food and core inflation

Year-on-year food inflation stood at 19.59 per cent in September 2026, compared with 20.16 per cent in September 2025. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation fell to -1.55 per cent in September from 1.02 per cent in August, a decline of 2.57 percentage points. The NBS attributed the decrease to changes in the average prices of guinea corn flour, white maize flour, local short-grain rice, eggs, fresh onions, palm oil, green beans, Irish potatoes, okra, fresh tomatoes, dried green peas and plantain.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 12.95 per cent year-on-year in September 2026. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation rose to 1.11 per cent from -0.06 per cent in August.

Energy, services and farm produce

The report’s newly introduced sub-indices showed energy recorded the highest month-on-month increase at 5.38 per cent in September, followed by services at 0.41 per cent, goods at 0.10 per cent and imported food at 0.04 per cent. Farm produce inflation declined by 2.86 per cent during the period. On a year-on-year basis, farm produce inflation stood at 18.85 per cent, while energy recorded 10.85 per cent, services 14.51 per cent, goods 14.31 per cent and imported food 9.18 per cent.

Urban inflation stood at 15.64 per cent year-on-year in September, while rural inflation was 12.46 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation increased to 0.53 per cent in September from 0.28 per cent in August. Rural inflation, however, declined to -0.89 per cent from 1.79 per cent in the preceding month.

States and food prices

Imo recorded the highest year-on-year headline inflation rate at 30.04 per cent in September 2026, followed by Enugu at 22.38 per cent and Niger at 22.05 per cent. Taraba recorded the lowest rate at 1.78 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 2.84 per cent and Adamawa at 3.66 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, Imo also recorded the highest increase at 8.64 per cent, followed by Kaduna at 4.46 per cent and Sokoto at 3.01 per cent. Adamawa recorded the largest decline at -6.10 per cent, followed by Bauchi at -5.31 per cent and Kano at -4.49 per cent.

Lagos recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation rate at 34.40 per cent in September, followed by Imo at 33.79 per cent and Ondo at 31.49 per cent. Taraba recorded negative food inflation of -7.47 per cent, while Yobe recorded -0.37 per cent and Borno 2.18 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Imo at 5.15 per cent, followed by Ondo at 4.46 per cent and Oyo at 3.82 per cent. Adamawa recorded the largest decline in month-on-month food inflation at -13.84 per cent, followed by Kano at -11.01 per cent and Bauchi at -10.21 per cent.

For consumers and businesses, the drop in headline and food inflation means slower price increases, but energy costs rose sharply month-on-month and food inflation remains high in Lagos and Imo.