Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased marginally to 15.91 per cent in June 2026 from 15.93 per cent in May, but price pressures remained severe across much of the country, with more than half of the states and the Federal Capital Territory recording annual inflation above 30 per cent.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that 20 of Nigeria’s 37 sub-national entities posted inflation rates exceeding 30 per cent. Niger recorded the highest annual inflation at 42.23 per cent, followed by Kogi (41.59 per cent) and the FCT (39.91 per cent), while Imo posted the lowest rate at 19.47 per cent.
Food inflation also remained a major concern. Kogi topped the chart with 53.02 per cent, ahead of Niger (43.83 per cent) and Benue (40.83 per cent), despite the national food inflation rate standing at 17.52 per cent year-on-year. On a monthly basis, food inflation accelerated to 3.75 per cent, driven by rising prices of staples including tomatoes, fresh pepper, beef, garri, yam, cowpea and cassava flour.
The NBS noted that inflation figures should not be used for direct state-to-state price comparisons due to differences in consumer spending patterns and weighting.
Commenting on the figures, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said the slight decline in headline inflation reflected broader stability but warned that rising food prices remained the greatest threat to household welfare.
He argued that Nigeria’s inflationary pressures were largely structural, driven by insecurity, high transport and energy costs, supply chain disruptions, expensive fertilisers and imported inflation. Yusuf maintained that the latest data did not warrant further monetary policy tightening by the Central Bank, urging policymakers instead to prioritise reforms that boost food production, improve logistics, reduce production costs and strengthen domestic refining.
