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Headline inflation dipped to 15.39 per cent in August 2026 from 15.43 per cent recorded in July 2026.
In a statement, the Statistician General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, said the month-on-month headline inflation rate in August 2026 was 0.71 per cent, which was 0.86 per cent lower than the rate recorded in July 2026 (1.57 per cent).
This, Adeniran said, shows that the average prices of items are increasing at a decreasing rate in August 2026.
According to him, the three major contributors to headline inflation were food and non-alcoholic beverages: 6.16 per cent; restaurants and accommodation services: 1.99 per cent; and transport: 1.64 per cent; while the least contributors were recreation, sport and culture: 0.05 per cent; alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics: 0.06 per cent; and insurance and financial services: 0.07 per cent.
“The food inflation rate in August 2026 was 19.57 per cent on a year-on-year basis, lower than 25.30 per cent recorded in August 2025. Also, on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2026 was 1.02 per cent, down by 4.55 percentage points from July 2026 (5.56 per cent).
“This shows that the average prices of food items are increasing at a decreasing rate in August 2026.
“The decline in the rate can be attributed mainly to changes in the average prices of palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, melon (egusi), fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken, turkey meat, yam flour, among others,” he said.
On core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, NBS put it at 13.29 per cent in August 2026 on a year-on-year basis.
On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was -0.06 per cent in August 2026, down by 0.21 per cent compared with July 2026 (0.15 per cent).
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However, on the newly introduced indices, NBS noted that the inflation rate of the sub-indices for August 2026 shows that the monthly changes recorded were farm produce (1.35 per cent), energy (-0.36 per cent), services (0.12 per cent), goods (0.45 per cent) and imported food (0.91 per cent).
Meanwhile, the inflation rates on a year-on-year basis recorded were farm produce (21.52 per cent), energy (4.69 per cent), services (15.38 per cent), goods (14.74 per cent) and imported food (12.82 per cent).
On a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate in August 2026 was 15.88 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 0.28 per cent in August 2026, down by 1.62 per cent compared with July 2026 (1.90 per cent).
Also, the SG explained that the rural inflation rate in August 2026 was 14.23 per cent on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in August 2026 was 1.79 per cent, up by 1.01 per cent compared with July 2026 (0.78 per cent).
As for state-level analyses, it should be noted that the consumer price index (CPI) is weighted by consumption expenditure patterns that differ across states and locations.
“Accordingly, the weight assigned to a particular food or non-food item may differ from state to state, making interstate comparisons of consumption basket inadvisable and potentially misleading.
“In August 2026, the all-items inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Lagos (23.68 per cent), Zamfara (22.56 per cent) and Enugu (22.06 per cent), while Sokoto (2.11 per cent), Kebbi (3.72 per cent) and Jigawa (3.81 per cent) recorded the lowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis.
“On a month-on-month basis, however, August 2026 recorded the highest increases in Rivers (6.92 per cent), Osun (5.61 per cent) and Kano (5.59 per cent), while Anambra (-8.83 per cent), Bauchi (-7.13 per cent) and Borno (-7.09 per cent) recorded the lowest rise in the month-on-month inflation,” the SG said.
