Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined slightly to 15.06 per cent in February 2026, indicating a continued but gradual easing of price pressures across the economy.
Data released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed the rate slipped by 0.04 percentage points from 15.10 per cent recorded in January.
Although marginal, the drop extends the recent moderation trend that policymakers at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are expected to watch closely as they pursue price stability.
According to the report, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the average change over time in prices of goods and services consumed by households, rose to 130.0 in February, up from 127.4 in January, representing a 2.6-point increase within the month.
On a year-on-year basis, inflation fell sharply to 15.06 per cent, compared with 26.27 per cent in February 2025, marking a decline of 11.21 percentage points, but shows that prices accelerated every month.
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The month-on-month inflation rate stood at 2.01 per cent in February, compared with 2.88 per cent recorded in January, indicating that the average price level increased more rapidly during the month.
The NBS noted that food prices remained the largest driver of inflation during the period.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 6.03 percentage points to the headline index, followed by restaurants and accommodation services (1.95 points), transport (1.61 points), and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.27 points).
Other contributors included education services (0.93 points) and health (0.91 points).
Urban inflation remained slightly higher than rural inflation during the period under review.
On a year-on-year basis, urban inflation stood at 15.53 per cent in February 2026, significantly lower than the 28.49 per cent recorded in February 2025. On a month-on-month basis, however, urban inflation rose to 2.55 per cent, compared with 2.72 per cent in January.
Rural inflation also declined annually but rose slightly compared with the previous month.
The NBS reported that rural inflation stood at 13.93 per cent year-on-year in February 2026, down from 22.73 per cent in February 2025.
Month-on-month, rural inflation increased to 0.71 per cent in February, compared with 3.29 per cent recorded in January.
Food inflation, which accounts for a significant share of household spending, also declined sharply every year.
According to the NBS, the food inflation rate stood at 12.12 per cent year-on-year in February 2026, compared with 26.98 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Despite the yearly moderation, food prices rose significantly within the month.
“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in February 2026 was 4.69 per cent, up by 10.70 per cent compared to January 2026 (-6.02 per cent),” the NBS said.
The statistics office attributed the increase to higher average prices of several food items, including beans, carrots, okazi leaf, cassava tuber, crayfish, millet flour, yam flour, snails, and dried ogbono.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, also declined every year.
The report showed that core inflation stood at 15.88 per cent year-on-year in February 2026, compared with 25.66 per cent recorded in February 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate, however, rose to 0.89 per cent, up from a decline of 1.69 per cent in January.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X
