Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased marginally to 15.06 percent in February 2026, signaling a modest cooling in price pressures, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on March 16, 2026, by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The figure represents a slight decline from the 15.1 percent recorded in January, reflecting a 0.04 percentage point drop in the pace at which the prices of goods and services increased during the period under review.
The CPI measures the average change over time in the prices paid by households for goods and services and remains the primary gauge of inflation trends in the economy.
Data from the statistics agency also showed a significant improvement compared with the same period a year earlier. On a year-on-year basis, headline inflation was 11.21 percentage points lower than the 26.27 percent recorded in February 2025.
According to the bureau, the sharp decline relative to last year indicates that inflationary pressures have moderated considerably, even though price increases remain a persistent challenge for households and businesses.
Despite the marginal easing in the annual rate, the CPI report showed that price pressures intensified on a monthly basis.
Month-on-month inflation rose to 2.01 percent in February, compared with -2.88 percent in January. The increase of 4.89 percentage points suggests that the rate of price increases accelerated during the month.
“This means that in February 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in January 2026,” the statistics agency said in the report.
The data indicates that while annual inflation has declined compared with the exceptionally high levels recorded in 2025, underlying cost pressures continue to affect several sectors of the economy.
Further analysis of the CPI data shows that the average inflation rate for the twelve months ending February 2026 stood at 21.03 percent. This represents a 3.02 percentage point increase compared with the 18.01 percent recorded in the corresponding twelve-month period ending February 2025.
The rise in the twelve-month average suggests that the overall cost of living has remained elevated over the past year despite the recent moderation in the headline inflation rate.
Economists say the latest figures point to a mixed inflation outlook for Africa’s largest economy.
While the marginal drop in the headline rate suggests that policy measures aimed at stabilising prices may be gaining traction, the increase in month-on-month inflation indicates that supply-side pressures and structural challenges continue to drive price increases in key segments of the economy.
Analysts note that food supply disruptions, transportation costs, energy prices and exchange-rate fluctuations remain key factors shaping inflation dynamics in the country.
Nigeria has faced persistent inflationary pressures in recent years, driven by currency volatility, rising logistics costs and structural constraints in agricultural production and distribution.
The latest inflation data comes at a time when policymakers are seeking to restore macroeconomic stability and ease the burden of rising living costs on households.
Economic observers say sustained policy efforts aimed at boosting agricultural productivity, strengthening domestic supply chains and stabilising the currency will be critical to sustaining the downward trend in inflation.
Improved food production, more efficient transportation networks and better access to energy are also seen as essential for easing cost pressures across the economy.
Analysts add that maintaining policy consistency and addressing structural bottlenecks will be key to ensuring that inflation continues to moderate in the months ahead.
For households and businesses, however, the latest data suggests that while inflation is easing from last year’s highs, the pace of price increases remains significant enough to keep cost-of-living pressures firmly in focus.