Nigeria’s headline inflation rate moderated slightly to 15.1 percent in January 2026, down from 15.15 percent in December 2025, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
The bureau noted that the decline of 0.05 percentage points reflects a modest easing in overall price pressures.
On a year-on-year basis, the January 2026 headline inflation rate was 12.51 percentage points lower than the 27.61 percent recorded in January 2025, signaling a significant slowdown compared with the same period last year.
Month-on-month, the CPI showed a -2.88 percent change in January 2026, a sharp improvement from the 0.54 percent recorded in December 2025.
NBS explained that this indicates the rate of increase in average price levels slowed considerably at the start of the year.
Food prices, a key driver of inflation, recorded a substantial decline. Year-on-year food inflation fell to 8.89 per cent in January 2026, down dramatically from 29.63 per cent in December 2025, a drop of 20.74 percentage points.
Month-on-month, food prices declined by 6.02 per cent, compared with -0.36 per cent in the previous month.
The NBS attributed the reduction to falling average prices of staple items such as water yam, eggs, green peas, groundnut oil, soya beans, palm oil, maize, guinea corn, beans, beef, melon (egusi), cassava tuber, and cowpeas.
The twelve-month average food inflation rate ending January 2026 stood at 20.29 per cent, down 18.18 percentage points from 38.47 percent in January 2025.
Regional data showed significant variation. Kogi recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation at 19.84 per cent, followed by Benue (18.38 per cent) and Adamawa (17.29 per cent).
Conversely, Ebonyi (1.69 per cent), Abia (3.23 per cent), and Imo (3.74 per cent) posted the slowest increases in food prices.
On a month-on-month basis, Imo (-1.26 per cent), Akwa Ibom (-2.21 per cent), and Zamfara (-2.96 per cent) recorded the largest food inflation declines, while Yobe (-11.88 per cent), Nasarawa (-9.06 per cent), and Sokoto (-8.31 per cent) experienced the most significant reductions.
Analysts said the figures suggested easing price pressures at the start of 2026, particularly in the food sector, offering cautious optimism for consumers and policymakers seeking sustained economic stability.
