Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined to 14.63 per cent in September 2026 from 15.39 per cent in August, as food inflation also moderated during the period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran, disclosed this in a press release issued in Abuja on Thursday, noting that the September inflation rate was also lower than the 20.98 per cent recorded in September 2025.
“Headline Inflation Rate: On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate for September 2026 stood at 14.63 per cent, when compared to 15.39 per cent and 20.98 per cent recorded in August 2026 and September 2025.”
The latest figures indicate a slowdown in the pace of increase in consumer prices compared with the corresponding periods, although inflationary pressures remained evident in several states and categories of household expenditure.
Food inflation, a major component of household spending, also recorded a decline. The NBS said the year-on-year food inflation rate stood at 19.59 per cent in September 2026, compared with 20.16 per cent in September 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation dropped to -1.55 per cent in September from 1.02 per cent in August, representing a decline of 2.57 percentage points. The negative rate indicates that food prices, on average, fell between August and September.
Adeniran attributed the development to changes in the average prices of several food items, including loose guinea corn flour, loose white maize flour, locally produced short-grain rice, eggs, fresh onions, palm oil, fresh green beans, Irish potatoes, okra, fresh tomatoes, dried green peas and plantain, among others.
A breakdown of the figures by location showed that urban inflation stood at 15.64 per cent year-on-year in September 2026.
However, the month-on-month urban inflation rate rose to 0.53 per cent from 0.28 per cent in August, representing an increase of 0.25 percentage points.
In rural areas, headline inflation was 12.46 per cent year-on-year during the month under review. On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate fell to -0.89 per cent in September from 1.79 per cent in August, a decline of 2.68 percentage points.
The state-level figures revealed significant differences in inflationary pressures across the country.
Imo State recorded the highest year-on-year headline inflation rate at 30.04 per cent, followed by Enugu at 22.38 per cent and Niger at 22.05 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, Taraba recorded the lowest year-on-year headline inflation rate at 1.78 per cent. Bauchi followed with 2.84 per cent, while Adamawa recorded 3.66 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, Imo also recorded the highest headline inflation rate at 8.64 per cent, followed by Kaduna at 4.46 per cent and Sokoto at 3.01 per cent.
Conversely, Adamawa recorded the steepest month-on-month decline at -6.10 per cent, followed by Bauchi at -5.31 per cent and Kano at -4.49 per cent.
The report also showed wide variations in food inflation among states.
Lagos recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation rate in September at 34.40 per cent, followed by Imo at 33.79 per cent and Ondo at 31.49 per cent.
Taraba recorded a negative year-on-year food inflation rate of -7.47 per cent, indicating a decline in average food prices compared with September 2025. Yobe followed at -0.37 per cent, while Borno recorded 2.18 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, Imo recorded the highest food inflation rate at 5.15 per cent, followed by Ondo at 4.46 per cent and Oyo at 3.82 per cent.
In contrast, Adamawa recorded the largest monthly decline in food inflation at -13.84 per cent, followed by Kano at -11.01 per cent and Bauchi at -10.21 per cent.
The September figures show that while headline and food inflation moderated nationally, price movements differed considerably across states, with some locations recording substantial increases and others experiencing monthly declines.
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