The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported a marginal decline in Nigeria’s headline inflation rate, which fell to 15.1 percent in January 2026 from 15.15 percent in December 2025.
The bureau disclosed this in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday, noting a slight moderation in overall price pressures at the start of the year.
“The January 2026 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.05% compared to the December 2025 Headline inflation rate,” the NBS said.
Providing further context, the agency explained that inflation on a year-on-year basis dropped significantly when compared to the same period last year.
“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 12.51% lower than the rate recorded in January 2025 (27.61%).
“This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in January 2026 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., January 2025).”
Month-on-month figures also reflected a slowdown in price increases.
“On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in January 2026 was -2.88%, which was 3.42% lower than the rate recorded in December 2025 (0.54%).
“This means that in January 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in December 2025.”
Food inflation drops to 8.89%
Food prices, which have been a major driver of inflationary pressure, recorded a sharp moderation. The NBS said the food inflation rate stood at 8.89 percent year-on-year in January — a steep decline from 29.63 percent recorded in December 2025, representing a 20.74 percentage-point drop.
On a monthly basis, food inflation also slowed considerably.
“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in January 2026 was -6.02%, down by 5.66% compared to December 2025 (-0.36%),” the report stated.
According to the bureau, the reduction was largely driven by falling average prices of staple items.
“The decrease can be attributed to the rate of decrease in the average prices of Water Yam, Eggs, Green Peas, Groundnut Oil, Soya Beans, Palm Oil, Maize (Corn) Grains, Guinea Corn, Beans, Beef Meat, Melon (Egusi) Unshelled, Cassava Tuber, Cow Peas (White) etc.”
It added that the average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending January 2026 stood at 20.29 percent — significantly lower than the 38.47 percent recorded in January 2025.
“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending January 2026 over the previous twelve-month average was 20.29%, which was 18.18% points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in January 2025 (38.47%).”
State-by-state breakdown
Across states, year-on-year food inflation was highest in Kogi (19.84 percent), Benue (18.38 percent), and Adamawa (17.29 percent).
In contrast, Ebonyi (1.69 percent), Abia (3.23 percent), and Imo (3.74 percent) recorded the slowest increases over the same period.
On a month-on-month basis, however, Imo (-1.26 percent), Akwa Ibom (-2.21 percent), and Zamfara (-2.96 percent) posted the highest food inflation figures under review, while Yobe (-11.88 percent), Nasarawa (-9.06 percent), and Sokoto (-8.31 percent) experienced the sharpest declines.
