Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 15.38% in March 2026, up from 15.06% in February, according to new data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The Consumer Price Index rose to 135.4 in March, a 5.4-point gain from 130.0 the previous month.
On a year-on-year basis, March inflation was down from 27.35% in March 2025. Month-on-month, the headline rate stood at 4.18% in March, 2.17 percentage points higher than February’s 2.01%.
The average CPI for the 12 months ending March 2026 was up 20.05% compared with the prior 12-month period, a 1.48 percentage point increase from the 18.58% recorded in March 2025.
Urban vs Rural
Urban inflation was 14.64% year-on-year in March. Month-on-month, urban inflation reached 3.16%, up 0.61 percentage points from February’s 2.55%.
The 12-month average for urban inflation was 20.04%, slightly below the 20.10% posted in March 2025.
Rural inflation came in higher at 17.22% year-on-year. On a monthly basis, it jumped to 6.73% in March from 0.71% in February, a 6.02 percentage point rise. The 12-month average for rural inflation was 19.74%, up 2.93 percentage points from 16.81% a year earlier.
Food and Core Inflation
Food inflation was 14.31% year-on-year in March, compared with 25.22% in March 2025. Month-on-month, food inflation eased to 4.17% from 4.69% in February. The NBS attributed the drop to slower price increases for items including yam, fresh ginger, cassava tuber, shelled groundnuts, Irish potatoes, dried ogbono, fresh tomatoes, and cassava flour.
The average annual food inflation rate for the 12 months ending March 2026 was 18.21%, down 17.81 percentage points from 36.02% in March 2025.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile farm produce and energy, stood at 16.21% year-on-year in March, down 10.91 percentage points from 27.12% in March 2025. Month-on-month, core inflation rose to 4.03% from 0.89% in February. The 12-month average core rate was 21.09%, down 6.25 percentage points from 27.34% a year earlier.
State Breakdown
Year-on-year headline inflation was highest in Bayelsa at 27.37%, followed by Sokoto at 26.03% and Bauchi at 23.67%. The lowest increases were in Osun at 5.25%, Kano at 9.85%, and Kaduna at 10.38%.
Month-on-month, Zamfara recorded the biggest jump at 10.77%, then Bauchi at 9.37% and Sokoto at 9.05%. The smallest monthly rises were in Lagos at 1.54%, Akwa Ibom at 1.80%, and Rivers at 1.89%.
For food inflation, Bayelsa led year-on-year at 33.35%, followed by Sokoto at 28.02% and Adamawa at 21.67%. Kano at 4.29%, Oyo at 4.86%, and Katsina at 7.48% saw the slowest food price growth.
Month-on-month, food inflation was highest in Sokoto at 11.78%, Niger at 8.59%, and Gombe at 8.10%, while Katsina at 0.09%, Ogun at 0.77%, and Adamawa at 1.30% recorded the smallest increases.
