Nigeria’s inflation edges up to 15.38% – first rise in a year

NIGERIA’S headline inflation rate climbed to 15.38 percent in March 2026, marking a slight increase from the 15.06 percent recorded in February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The uptick represents the first reversal in inflation trends in 12 months, following a steady decline that began in April 2025.

Details of the increase were contained in the bureau’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Wednesday. NBS noted that the headline rate rose by 0.32 percentage points compared to February 2026. On a year-on-year basis, however, inflation remains significantly lower than the 27.35 percent recorded in March 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation accelerated more sharply. The rate stood at 4.18 percent in March 2026, up from 2.01 percent in February, indicating that prices increased at a faster pace within the month under review.

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“This means that in March 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than that recorded in February,” the bureau said.

Food inflation moderates year-on-year

Food inflation came in at 14.31 percent year-on-year in March 2026, a notable decline from 25.22 percent recorded in the same period last year.

However, on a monthly basis, food inflation eased slightly to 4.17 percent, down from 4.69 percent in February, suggesting a slower pace of increase in food prices within the month.

According to NBS, the movement in food prices was driven by changes in the cost of items such as yam, fresh ginger, cassava tuber, groundnuts, Irish potatoes, dried ogbono, fresh tomatoes, and cassava flour.

State-by-state breakdown

The report highlighted wide disparities across states. On a year-on-year basis, Bayelsa recorded the highest food inflation at 33.35 percent, followed by Sokoto at 28.02 percent and Adamawa at 21.67 percent.

In contrast, Kano (4.29 percent), Oyo (4.86 percent), and Katsina (7.48 percent) posted the slowest increases in food prices.

Month-on-month data showed Sokoto leading with 11.78 percent, followed by Niger (8.59 percent) and Gombe (8.10 percent).

Meanwhile, Katsina (0.09 percent), Ogun (0.77 percent), and Adamawa (1.30 percent) experienced lowest declines in food inflation during the period.