Abuja: Nigeria’s inflation rate eased to 15.06% in February, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for February 2026, released in Abuja on Monday. The February headline inflation represented a marginal decrease of 0.04 percent compared to the 15.10 percent recorded in January.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the year-on-year headline inflation rate for February was 11.21 percent lower than the rate recorded in February 2025, which stood at 26.27 percent. On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in February was 2.01 percent, which was 4.89 percent higher than the rate recorded in January at -2.88 percent. This indicates that in February, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than that in January.
The report identified three major contributors to the year-on-year headline inflation: food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.03 percent, restaurants and accommodation services at 1.95 percent, and transport at 1.61 percent. The least contributors were recreation, sports, and culture at 0.05 percent, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics at 0.06 percent, and insurance and financial services at 0.07 percent.
The Consumer Price Index increased to 130.0 in February, reflecting a 2.6-point increase from 127.4 recorded in January. The food inflation rate in February was 12.12 percent year-on-year, which was 14.86 percentage points lower than in February 2025 at 26.98 percent. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was 4.69 percent in February, an increase of 10.70 percent compared to the -6.02 percent recorded in January.
The NBS attributed the month-on-month increase in food inflation to rising prices of items like beans, carrots, okapi leaf, cassava tuber, and crayfish, among others. Core inflation, excluding volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 15.88 percent year-on-year in February, marking a decline of 9.78 percent compared to 25.66 percent in February 2025. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation was 0.89 percent in February, up by 2.58 percent from -1.69 percent in January.
The report also highlighted that the inflation rate of sub-indices on a month-on-month basis for February showed farm produce at 3.7 percent, an increase from -5.10 percent recorded in January. Energy and services saw a decline at -0.2 percent and -0.3 percent, respectively, compared to -3.13 percent and 0.48 percent recorded in January. Goods and imported foods recorded an increase of 2.8 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, compared to -4.63 percent and -6.81 percent recorded in January.
On a year-on-year basis, urban inflation in February was 15.53 percent, 12.96 percentage points lower than 28.49 percent in February 2025. The month-on-month urban inflation rate was 2.55 percent, up by 5.27 percent from January. Rural inflation was 13.93 percent year-on-year in February, 8.80 percentage points lower than 22.73 percent in February 2025. The month-on-month rural inflation rate was 0.71 percent, up by 4.00 percent from January.
State-wise, the all-items index inflation rate year-on-year was highest in Kogi at 23.57 percent, followed by Benue at 22.85 percent and Anambra at 22.09 percent. The lowest rise was recorded in Katsina at 7.78 percent, followed by Imo at 11.66 percent and Ebonyi at 11.71 percent. On a month-on-month basis, Enugu recorded the highest inflation at 5.92 percent, followed by Ogun at 4.39 percent and Anambra at 4.11 percent. Zamfara, Bauchi, and Katsina recorded declines in month-on-month inflation at -2.14 percent, -1.23 percent, and -1.06 percent, respectively.
Food inflation year-on-year was highest in Kogi at 26.91 percent, followed by Adamawa at 23.12 percent and Benue at 21.89 percent. Katsina, Bauchi, and Imo recorded the slowest rise in food inflation year-on-year at 5.09 percent, 7.09 percent, and 7.65 percent, respectively. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Bayelsa at 8.81 percent, followed by Ebonyi at 8.51 percent and Edo at 7.72 percent.