Nigeria’s inflation rate recorded a slight drop in February 2026, easing to 15.06 per cent, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The report revealed a marginal decline from the 15.10 per cent posted in January, signalling a modest slowdown in the overall rise in prices across the economy.
“In February 2026, the Headline inflation rate eased to 15.06 per cent, down from 15.10 per cent in January 2026,” the bureau stated.
Despite the slight dip in inflation, the Consumer Price Index rose to 130.0 in February from 127.4 recorded in January, showing a 2.6-point increase within the month. The CPI tracks the average change in the prices of goods and services consumed by households.
On a year-on-year basis, inflation dropped significantly compared to the same period last year. “The February 2026 Headline inflation rate was 11.21 per cent lower than the rate recorded in February 2025 (26.27 per cent),” the report added.
However, the pace of price increases accelerated on a monthly basis. The NBS disclosed that month-on-month inflation climbed to 2.01 per cent in February, compared to a decline of 2.88 per cent in January.
“This means that in February 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in January 2026,” the bureau explained.
Food prices remained the dominant factor driving inflation during the period. Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed the highest share at 6.03 percentage points, followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 1.95 points, and transport at 1.61 points.
Other contributors included housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 1.27 percentage points, while education services accounted for 0.93 points.
The report also showed that inflation in urban areas was slightly higher than in rural regions. Urban inflation stood at 15.53 per cent in February 2026, a sharp drop from 28.49 per cent recorded in February 2025.
