Nigeria's Inflation Rate Drops to 15.1% in January Following Food Price Reductions

In January 2026, Nigeria's inflation rate decreased to 15.1%, primarily due to a drop in food prices.

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the inflation rate fell from 15.15% in December 2025.

According to the NBS, "The January 2026 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.05% compared with the previous month."

In comparison to the same month last year, the year-on-year inflation rate in January 2026 was recorded at 12.51% lower than January 2025's rate of 27.61%. This indicates a decrease in the year-on-year inflation rate.

On a month-to-month basis, inflation for January 2026 was reported at -2.88%, translating to a 3.42% drop from December 2025's figure of 0.54%.

This indicates that the average price level's growth rate was less than that of December 2025.

Food inflation also saw a noteworthy decline. On a year-on-year basis, food price inflation was reported at 8.89% for January 2026, down from 29.63% in December 2025, reflecting a significant reduction of 20.74 percentage points.

Month-on-month, food inflation saw a 6.02% decline, contrasting with December’s -0.36%. The NBS highlighted that this decrease is attributed to lower average prices of critical food items like water yam, eggs, green peas, groundnut oil, soybeans, palm oil, maize, guinea corn, beans, beef, melon, cassava, and cowpeas.

The average food inflation rate over the twelve months concluding in January 2026 stands at 20.29%, which is 18.18 percentage points less than the rate of 38.47% noted in January 2025.

In terms of state performance, Kogi recorded the highest food inflation rate at 19.84%, trailed by Benue at 18.38% and Adamawa at 17.29%.

In contrast, the states with the slowest food price increases were Ebonyi (1.69%), Abia (3.23%), and Imo (3.74%).

By month-to-month comparisons, Imo (-1.26%), Akwa Ibom (-2.21%), and Zamfara (-2.96%) had the highest recorded food inflation rates, while significant declines were observed in Yobe (-11.88%), Nasarawa (-9.06%), and Sokoto (-8.31%).

The recent statistics indicate a reduction in price pressures at the beginning of 2026, particularly within the food sector, providing cautious optimism for consumers and policymakers striving for steady economic stability.