Nigeria’s inflation rises to 15.93% amid surge in food prices

Nigeria’s inflation rate rose for the third consecutive month in May 2026 as food prices continued to exert pressure on household budgets, despite a slowdown in the pace of monthly price increases.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday showed that headline inflation increased to 15.93 per cent in May from 15.69 per cent in April. However, the figure remained significantly lower than the 26.06 per cent recorded in May 2025.

“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate rose to 15.93%, up from 15.69% in April 2026 and down from 26.06% in the same month of the preceding year (May 2025),” the NBS said.

The bureau added that “the May 2026 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.24% compared to the April 2026 Headline inflation rate.”

Although prices continued to rise, the monthly inflation trend eased.

“In May 2026, the headline inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was 1.75%, which was 0.39% lower than the rate recorded in April 2026 (2.13%). This means that in May 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in April 2026.”

Food inflation also edged higher, rising to 16.96 per cent year-on-year in May from 16.68 per cent in April, although it remained well below the 24.55 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

“The food inflation rate in May 2026 on a month-on-month basis was 2.98%, down by 0.65% points from April 2026 (3.63%).”

The NBS attributed the movement in food prices to changes in the average prices of staple commodities, including onions, maize, melon (egusi), water yam, cassava flour, crayfish, fresh pepper, fresh tomatoes, wheat grain, cassava tubers, yam tubers, sweet potatoes, ginger, plantain and cowpea.

According to the report, Adamawa (29.62 per cent), Kwara (28.47 per cent) and Rivers (28.40 per cent) recorded the highest annual food inflation rates, while Borno (-6.53 per cent), Taraba (1.13 per cent) and Bayelsa (5.99 per cent) recorded the slowest increases.

On a monthly basis, Bauchi (7.73 per cent), Ogun (6.86 per cent) and Jigawa (6.69 per cent) posted the sharpest increases in food prices, while Niger (3.54 per cent), Katsina (-3.48 per cent) and Gombe (-2.22 per cent) recorded the slowest changes.

The latest figures indicate that inflationary pressures remain persistent, particularly in food prices, even as the pace of monthly increases begins to moderate.