Nigeria’s inflation rate rose slightly to 15.38 per cent in March 2026, up from 15.06 per cent recorded in February, according to the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The data showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, increased to 135.4 in March from 130.0 in February, indicating a 5.4-point rise.
On a year-on-year basis, headline inflation stood at 15.38 per cent in March 2026, compared to 27.35 per cent recorded in the same period of 2025. This represents a marginal increase of 0.32 percentage points from February 2026.
Month-on-month, inflation rose more sharply to 4.18 per cent in March, up by 2.17 percentage points from 2.01 per cent in February, reflecting faster price increases within the month.
The average CPI for the 12 months ending March 2026 rose by 20.05 per cent, representing a 1.48 percentage point increase compared to the 18.58 per cent recorded in March 2025.
Urban inflation on a year-on-year basis stood at 14.64 per cent in March, while on a month-on-month basis it increased to 3.16 per cent, up from 2.55 per cent in February. The 12-month average for urban inflation was 20.04 per cent, slightly lower than 20.10 per cent recorded a year earlier.
In rural areas, inflation was higher, coming in at 17.22 per cent year-on-year. On a month-on-month basis, rural inflation surged to 6.73 per cent from 0.71 per cent in February. The 12-month average stood at 19.74 per cent, up from 16.81 per cent in March 2025.
Food inflation eased slightly on a year-on-year basis to 14.31 per cent in March 2026, compared to 25.22 per cent in March 2025. However, on a month-on-month basis, it dropped to 4.17 per cent from 4.69 per cent in February.
The decline in food inflation was attributed to slower increases in the prices of key items such as yam, fresh ginger, cassava tuber, groundnuts, Irish potatoes, dried ogbono, fresh tomatoes, and cassava flour.
The average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending March 2026 stood at 18.21 per cent, significantly lower than the 36.02 per cent recorded in March 2025.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 16.21 per cent year-on-year in March 2026, down from 27.12 per cent recorded in March 2025. On a month-on-month basis, it rose to 4.03 per cent from 0.89 per cent in February.
The 12-month average core inflation rate was 21.09 per cent, lower than 27.34 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
At the state level, Bayelsa recorded the highest year-on-year headline inflation at 27.37 per cent, followed by Sokoto at 26.03 per cent and Bauchi at 23.67 per cent. Osun (5.25 per cent), Kano (9.85 per cent), and Kaduna (10.38 per cent) recorded the lowest increases.
On a month-on-month basis, Zamfara (10.77 per cent), Bauchi (9.37 per cent), and Sokoto (9.05 per cent) recorded the highest increases, while Lagos (1.54 per cent), Akwa Ibom (1.80 per cent), and Rivers (1.89 per cent) recorded the slowest rise.
Food inflation was highest year-on-year in Bayelsa (33.35 per cent), Sokoto (28.02 per cent), and Adamawa (21.67 per cent), while Kano (4.29 per cent), Oyo (4.86 per cent), and Katsina (7.48 per cent) recorded the slowest increases.
On a month-on-month basis, Sokoto (11.78 per cent), Niger (8.59 per cent), and Gombe (8.10 per cent) recorded the highest food inflation rates, while Katsina (0.09 per cent), Ogun (0.77 per cent), and Adamawa (1.30 per cent) posted the slowest rises.
