Nigeria’s headline inflation rate dropped to 14.63 per cent in September 2026, down from 15.39 per cent in August 2026, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The report said the rate stood at 20.98 per cent in September 2025.
It also showed that food inflation recorded a negative month-on-month rate of 1.55 per cent in September 2026, representing a decline of 2.57 percentage points from the 1.02 per cent recorded in August 2026.
“Looking at the movement, the September 2026 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 6.35% compared to the September 2025 (20.98%) Headline inflation rate,” the report stated.
On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate stood at 0.06 per cent in September 2026, representing a decrease of 0.65 percentage points from the 0.71 per cent recorded in August 2026.
“This means that in September 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2026,” it added.
The report stated that food inflation stood at 19.59 per cent year-on-year in September 2026, compared with 20.16 per cent in the same month of the preceding year.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation stood at -1.55 per cent in September 2026, down by 2.57 percentage points from 1.02 per cent in August 2026.
According to the report, the development was attributable to changes in the average prices of products such as loose guinea corn flour, loose white maize flour, local short-grain rice, eggs, fresh onions, palm oil, fresh green beans, Irish potatoes, okra, fresh tomatoes, dried green peas and plantain, among others.
It added that the average annual food inflation rate for the 12 months ending September 2026 was 15.72 per cent, representing a decline of 12.66 percentage points from the 28.37 per cent recorded in September 2025.
For core inflation, which measures the all-items index excluding farm produce and energy prices, the report said the rate stood at 12.95 per cent year-on-year in September 2026, compared with 22.11 per cent in September 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation stood at 1.11 per cent in September 2026, compared with -0.06 per cent in August 2026.
The report further stated that the average annual core inflation rate for the 12 months ending September 2026 was 16.54 per cent, which was 9.13 percentage points lower than the 25.68 per cent recorded in September 2025.
A breakdown of headline inflation across states showed that Imo recorded the highest year-on-year rate at 30.04 per cent, followed by Enugu at 22.38 per cent and Niger at 22.05 per cent.
Taraba recorded the lowest year-on-year headline inflation rate at 1.78 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 2.84 per cent and Adamawa at 3.66 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, Imo recorded the highest headline inflation rate at 8.64 per cent, followed by Kaduna at 4.46 per cent and Sokoto at 3.01 per cent.
In contrast, Adamawa recorded -6.10 per cent, Bauchi -5.31 per cent and Kano -4.49 per cent, representing the lowest month-on-month rates.
For food inflation, the report said Lagos recorded the highest year-on-year rate at 34.40 per cent, followed by Imo at 33.79 per cent and Ondo at 31.49 per cent.
Taraba recorded -7.47 per cent, Yobe -0.37 per cent and Borno 2.18 per cent, representing the lowest year-on-year food inflation rates.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Imo at 5.15 per cent, followed by Ondo at 4.46 per cent and Oyo at 3.82 per cent.
Adamawa recorded -13.84 per cent, Kano -11.01 per cent and Bauchi -10.21 per cent, representing the lowest month-on-month food inflation rates.
UPDATE NEWS:
Nigerians can now invest ₦2.5 million on premium domains and profit about ₦17-₦25 million. All earnings paid in US Dollars. Rather than wonder, click here to find out how it works.