Nigeria’s inflation drops from 15.39% to 14.63% in September

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that Nigeria’s inflation has eased from 15.39 percent in August to 14.63 percent in September 2026.

NBS said, “On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate for September 2026 stood at 14.63%, when compared to 15.39% and 20.98% recorded in August 2026 and September 2025, respectively.

“The month-on-month headline inflation rate in September 2026 was 0.06%, which was 0.65% lower than the rate recorded in August 2026 (0.71%).

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According to a statement signed by the Statistical General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, on Thursday, NBS explained that at the divisional level, the three major contributors to the headline inflation were Food and non-alcoholic Beverages: 5.85%, Restaurants & Accommodation Services: 1.89%, and Transport: 1.56%; while the least contributors were Recreation, Sport, and Culture: 0.05%, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics: 0.05%, and Insurance and Financial Services: 0.07%.

“The Food inflation rate in September 2026 was 19.59% on a year-on-year basis, lower than 20.16% recorded in September 2025. Also, on a month-on-month basis, the Food Inflation rate in September 2026 was -1.55%, down by 2.57 percentage points from August 2026 (1.02%).

“This can be attributed to the rate of change in the average prices of Guinea corn flour, sold loose, Maize (Corn) Flour White (sold loose), Rice Local, short-Grained, Egg, Onion Fresh, Palm oil, Green Beans Fresh, Irish Potatoes, Okra, Tomatoes Fresh, Green Peas (Dried), Plantain, among others.

“Core Inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 12.95% in September 2026 on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 1.11% in September 2026, up by 1.17% compared to August 2026 (-0.06%).

NBS stated that the inflation rate of the sub-indices for September 2026 shows that the monthly changes recorded were Farm Produce (-2.86%), Energy (5.38%), Services (0.41%), Goods (0.10%), and Imported Food (0.04%).

Meanwhile, the inflation rates on a year-on-year basis were as follows: Farm Produce (18.85%), Energy (10.85%), Services (14.51%), Goods (14.31%), and Imported Food (9.18%).

“On a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate in September 2026 was 15.64%. On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 0.53% in September 2026, up by 0.25% compared to August 2026 (0.28%).

“The rural inflation rate in September 2026 was 12.46% on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in September 2026 was -0.89%, down by 2.68% compared to August 2026 (1.79%).

“In analysing price movements under this section, it should be noted that 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”.

The statement further noted that “in September 2026, the All-Items inflation rate on a Year-on-Year basis was highest in Imo (30.04%), Enugu (22.38) and Niger (22.05%), while Taraba (1.78%), Bauchi (2.84%) and Adamawa (3.66%) recorded the lowest rise in Headline inflation on a Year-on-Year basis. On a Month-on-Month basis, however, September 2026 recorded the highest increases in Imo (8.64%), Kaduna (4.46%), and Sokoto (3.01%), while Adamawa (-6.10%), Bauchi (-5.31%), and Kano (-4.49%) recorded the lowest rise in the Month-on-Month inflation.

“In September 2026, Food inflation on a Year-on-Year basis was highest in Lagos (34.40%), Imo (33.79%), and Ondo (31.49), while Taraba (-7.47%), Yobe (-0.37%), and Borno (2.18%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation on a Year-on-Year basis. On a Month-on-Month basis, however, September 2026 Food inflation was highest in Imo (5.15%), Ondo (4.46%), and Oyo (3.82), while Adamawa (-13.84%), Kano (-11.01%), and Bauchi (-10.21%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation on a Month-on-Month basis.

The National Bureau of Statistics said the report is centred on a new CPI base year of 2024 and a weight reference period of 2023. Hence, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 146.38 in September 2026 and reflects a 0.08-point increase from the preceding month.