Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose for the third consecutive month in 2026, reaching 15.93 per cent in May, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The report showed that inflation increased from 15.69 per cent in April and 15.38 per cent in March, underscoring persistent price pressures across key sectors of the economy despite signs of moderation in monthly inflation trends.
The NBS data indicated that the CPI climbed to 140.7 in May from 138.3 recorded in April, reflecting a 2.4-point increase in the overall price level of goods and services consumed by households.
On a month-on-month basis, however, headline inflation slowed to 1.75 per cent in May, compared with 2.13 per cent recorded in April. The bureau explained that while prices continued to rise, the pace of increase was slower than in the previous month.
“In May 2026, the headline inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was 1.75 per cent, which was 0.39 per cent lower than the rate recorded in April 2026 (2.13 per cent),” the NBS stated.
Although inflation remains significantly lower than the 26.06 per cent recorded in May 2025, the latest figures point to sustained increases in consumer prices driven largely by food, services and other core components of the economy amid ongoing domestic and global economic challenges.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to headline inflation, accounting for 6.38 percentage points of the annual inflation rate.
Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 2.06 percentage points, while transport accounted for 1.70 percentage points.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 1.34 percentage points, followed by education services at 0.99 percentage points and health at 0.97 percentage points.
Clothing and footwear contributed 0.80 percentage points, while information and communication as well as personal care and miscellaneous services each added 0.52 percentage points.
The NBS reported that food inflation stood at 16.96 per cent year-on-year in May, down from 24.55 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025.
Monthly food inflation also eased to 2.98 per cent from 3.63 per cent recorded in April.
According to the bureau, rising prices of staple food items such as onions, maize grains, tomatoes, fresh pepper, cassava products, yam tubers, wheat grain, ginger, plantain and cowpea contributed significantly to food inflation during the month.
The report further revealed that the average annual food inflation rate for the 12 months ending May 2026 stood at 16.99 per cent, a sharp decline from 33.21 per cent recorded in the corresponding period last year.
Beyond food and energy, underlying price pressures remained evident. Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, rose to 16.82 per cent year-on-year in May.
Every month, core inflation accelerated to 1.94 per cent from 1.03 per cent in April, indicating stronger inflationary pressures in the broader economy.
Urban areas recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 16.07 per cent, while rural inflation stood at 15.60 per cent.
Monthly urban inflation increased slightly to 1.99 per cent, whereas rural inflation slowed significantly to 1.17 per cent from 2.80 per cent in April.
Services inflation remained elevated at 17.92 per cent year-on-year and 2.84 per cent month-on-month.
Imported food inflation stood at 14.60 per cent annually, while goods inflation was recorded at 6.62 per cent and energy inflation at 5.73 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
At the state level, Yobe recorded the highest annual headline inflation rate at 24.94 per cent, followed by Anambra at 23.29 per cent and Sokoto at 22.60 per cent.
Niger posted the lowest annual inflation rate at 3.07 per cent, ahead of Plateau at 7.10 per cent and Edo at 7.73 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, Benue recorded the highest inflation increase at 8.23 per cent, followed by Bayelsa at 7.62 per cent and Borno at 7.29 per cent.
Niger, Zamfara and Taraba recorded declines in monthly inflation during the period.
Food inflation also varied widely across states. Adamawa recorded the highest annual food inflation rate at 29.62 per cent, followed by Kwara at 28.47 per cent and Rivers at 28.40 per cent.
Conversely, Borno recorded food deflation of 6.53 per cent, while Taraba and Bayelsa posted the slowest increases in food prices.
The NBS report also showed that average inflation for the 12 months ending May 2026 stood at 18.36 per cent, compared with 30.57 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, suggesting a gradual easing of inflationary pressures over the longer term despite recent monthly increases.
