Nigeria’s headline inflation rate recorded a marginal decline to 15.06 per cent in February 2026, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The statistics agency disclosed that the February figure represents a slight drop of 0.04 percentage points when compared with the 15.10 per cent recorded in January 2026.

The report indicates that while inflation eased slightly on a year-on-year basis, the cost of goods and services rose faster on a month-on-month basis.

According to the NBS, the headline inflation rate for February 2026 was significantly lower compared with the same period last year.

The bureau noted that the latest figure was 11.21 percentage points lower than the 26.27 per cent recorded in February 2025.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate on a year-on-year basis decreased in February 2026 compared with the same month in the preceding year (February 2025),” the report stated.

This development suggests a gradual easing of inflationary pressures when compared with the sharp rise in consumer prices recorded in the previous year.

Despite the slight decline in the annual inflation rate, the report revealed that prices of goods and services increased more rapidly in February when compared with January.

The NBS stated that the headline inflation rate stood at 2.01 per cent on a month-on-month basis in February 2026.

This represents a significant increase of 4.89 percentage points from the -2.88 per cent recorded in January 2026.

“The headline inflation rate in February 2026 was 2.01 per cent on a month-on-month basis, which was 4.89 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in January 2026 (-2.88 per cent). This indicates that the rate of increase in the average price level in February was higher than that recorded in January,” the report explained.

The NBS report also showed that food inflation declined on a year-on-year basis.

Food inflation stood at 12.12 per cent in February 2026, representing a significant drop of 14.86 percentage points compared with the 26.98 per cent recorded in February 2025.

“This was 14.86 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in February 2025, which was 26.98 per cent,” the report said.

However, food prices recorded a sharp increase on a month-on-month basis.

The report indicated that food inflation rose to 4.69 per cent in February 2026, representing an increase of 10.70 percentage points compared with the -6.02 per cent recorded in January 2026.

According to the statistics agency, the rise in food inflation was driven by increases in the prices of several food commodities.

These include beans, carrots, okazi leaves, cassava tubers, crayfish, millet flour, yam flour, snails, dried ogbono (apon), and cowpeas, among others.

The NBS further reported that the average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending February 2026 stood at 19.08 per cent.

This represents a decline of 18.31 percentage points when compared with the 37.40 per cent recorded in February 2025.

The bureau noted that the reduction reflects a gradual easing in food price pressures over the past year, even though short-term price fluctuations continue to affect the cost of staple food items across the country.