Abuja: Nigeria’s headline inflation rate slowed to 15.06% in February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), offering slight relief to consumers after months of sustained price pressures.
To provide more details, the NBS disclosed this information in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for February 2026, released in Abuja on Monday.
According to the report, the February headline inflation decreased by 0.04 per cent compared to the 15.10 per cent recorded in January.
Year-on-year, February’s headline inflation rate was 11.21 percentage points lower than February 2025’s 26.27 per cent.
The report said the headline inflation rate rose to 2.01 per cent in February, up from January’s -2.88 per cent.
“This means that in February, the rate at which the average price level increased was higher compared to the slower rate seen in January, where there was a decrease.”
The top contributors to year-on-year headline inflation were: food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.03%, restaurants and accommodation services at 1.95%, and transport at 1.61%.
Least contributors: recreation/sports/culture (0.05%), alcoholic beverages/tobacco/narcotics (0.06%), insurance/financial services (0.07%).
Continuing the analysis, the report said the CPI increased to 130.0 in February, up 2.6 points from 127.4 in January.
The report said the food inflation rate in February was 12.12 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 14.86 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in February 2025 at 26.98 per cent.
However, it said that on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate increased from -6.02 per cent in January to 4.69 per cent in February.
Previously, the NBS attributed the month-on-month increase in food inflation to higher average prices for beans, carrots, okapi leaf, cassava tuber, and crayfish. Looking ahead, these price trends could continue to influence overall food inflation rates.
“Others are millet flour, yam flour, snails, avenger(ogbono/apon)-dried ungrinded, cow peas, among others.”
The report noted that Core inflation, defined as “All items less farm products and energy” and excluding volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 15.88 per cent in February on a year-on-year basis.
“This shows a decline of 9.78 per cent when compared to the 25.66 per cent recorded in February 2025.
“On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 0.89 per cent in February. This is an increase of 2.58 percentage points from -1.69 per cent recorded in January, reflecting a shift from decrease to increase.”
The report said that the sub-indices’ month-on-month inflation rates for February showed that farm produce rose to 3.7 per cent, up from the -5.10 per cent recorded in January. This increase highlights a notable turnaround from the previous month.
It said energy and services recorded month-on-month declines of -0.2 per cent and -0.3 per cent, respectively, compared to -3.13 per cent and 0.48 per cent in January.
The report said that, compared to January, goods rose from -4.63 per cent to 2.8 per cent, and imported foods rose from -6.81 per cent to 0.6 per cent.
To provide further context, it said that on a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate in February was 15.53 per cent, which was 12.96 percentage points lower than the 28.49 per cent recorded in February 2025.
“On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.55 per cent in February. This is an increase of 5.27 percentage points compared to -2.72 per cent in January.”
The report said that in February, the rural inflation rate was 13.93 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.80 percentage points lower than the 22.73 per cent in February 2025.
“On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 0.71 per cent in February, which is an increase of 4.00 percentage points from -3.29 per cent in January.”
In the states’ profile analysis, the report showed that in February, the all-items index inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi at 23.57 per cent, followed by Benue at 22.85 per cent and Anambra at 22.09 per cent.
It said that the lowest year-on-year rise in headline inflation was recorded in Katsina at 7.78 per cent, followed by Imo at 11.66 per cent and Ebonyi at 11.71 per cent.
However, the report said that in February, the month-on-month inflation rate was highest in Enugu at 5.92 per cent, followed by Ogun at 4.39 per cent and Anambra at 4.11 per cent.
Zamfara recorded a -2.14 per cent, month-on-month inflation change, Bauchi a -1.23 per cent, and Katsina a -1.06 per cent, each recording a decline.
It said that on a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Kogi at 26.91 per cent, followed by Adamawa at 23.12 per cent, and Benue at 21.89 per cent.
“Katsina is at 5.09 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 7.09 per cent, and Imo at 7.65 per cent.’’
However, it said that on a month-on-month basis in February, food inflation was highest in Bayelsa at 8.81 per cent, followed by Ebonyi at 8.51 per cent, and Edo at 7.72 per cent. These rates are higher than those recorded in January, indicating growing food inflation in these states.
“Katsina at -0.70 per cent, followed by Nasarawa at 0.17 per cent and Kano at 1.39 per cent, recorded a decline in food inflation on a month-on-month basis, compared to their rates in January.”
