Inflation Rises To 15.69% Amid Surge In Food, Transport Costs

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 15.69 percent in April 2026, up from 15.38 percent in March, as rising costs of food, transport, healthcare and energy continued to push consumer prices higher across the country.

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates a reversal of the recent easing trend in inflation, underscoring persistent cost pressures on households and businesses.

According to the bureau, “In April 2026, the headline inflation rate rose to 15.69 per cent, up from 15.38 per cent in March 2026, and stood at 26.82 per cent in April 2025.” The report added that the 0.31 percentage point increase reflects a renewed uptick in price levels.

The CPI climbed to 138.3 in April from 135.4 in March, representing a 2.9-point increase within the review period.

However, on a month-on-month basis, inflation moderated to 2.13 percent in April, down from 4.18 percent in March, suggesting a slower pace of price increases compared to the previous month.

Food prices remained the dominant driver of inflation, contributing 6.40 percentage points to the headline figure. Restaurants and accommodation services followed with 3.56 percentage points, while transport accounted for 1.70 percentage points.

Other contributors included health (1.21 percentage points) and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.77 percentage points). Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services added 0.64 percentage points, alongside increases in education, clothing and information services.

Food inflation stood at 16.06 percent year-on-year in April 2026, lower than 24.68 percent recorded in April 2025. On a monthly basis, it eased to 3.63 percent from 4.17 percent in March.

The NBS attributed rising food prices to increased costs of staples such as millet, yam flour, fresh ginger, beef, garri, yam tubers, pepper, crayfish, cassava, beans, Irish potatoes, tomatoes, wheat grain, soybeans, guinea corn, plantain and carrots.

The average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending April 2026 was 17.55 percent, significantly lower than 34.60 percent recorded in April 2025.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, rose to 15.86 percent year-on-year in April, compared to 26.05 percent in the corresponding period of 2025. On a monthly basis, it slowed sharply to 1.03 percent from 4.03 percent in March.

Further breakdown showed farm produce inflation rose by 19.8 percent year-on-year and 6.0 percent month-on-month, while energy inflation recorded 4.6 percent annual growth and 8.0 percent monthly growth.

Services inflation stood at 16.7 percent year-on-year and 2.1 percent month-on-month, while goods inflation was 15.7 percent annually and 3.2 percent monthly. Imported food inflation came in at 10.5 percent year-on-year and 4.4 percent month-on-month.

Urban inflation was 15.40 percent year-on-year in April, with the monthly rate easing to 1.86 percent from 3.16 percent in March. Rural inflation was higher at 16.36 percent year-on-year, although the monthly figure declined to 2.80 percent from 6.73 percent.

At the state level, Sokoto recorded the highest year-on-year all-items inflation rate at 25.74 percent, followed by Bauchi (22.52 percent) and Zamfara (22.03 percent). Edo posted the lowest rate at 5.91 percent, while Borno and Jigawa recorded 6.72 percent and 7.04 percent respectively.

For food inflation, Enugu led with 32.67 percent, followed by Kwara (30.77 percent) and Adamawa (30.14 percent), while Borno recorded the slowest rise at 1.67 percent.

The NBS cautioned against direct interstate comparisons, noting that consumption patterns and expenditure weights differ across states.

The latest data is expected to heighten pressure on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as policymakers continue efforts to stabilise prices amid broader economic challenges.

ENDS