By Okeoghene Akubuike
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 15.06 per cent in February.
The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for February 2026, released in Abuja on Monday.
According to the report, the February headline inflation showed a decrease of 0.04 per cent compared to the 15.10 per cent recorded in January.
It said that on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in February was 11.21 per cent lower than the rate recorded in February 2025 at 26.27 per cent.
The report said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in February was 2.01 per cent, which was 4.89 per cent higher than the rate recorded in January at -2.88 per cent.
“This means that in February, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in January.”
It said that the three major contributors to the headline inflation year- on- year were food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.03 per cent, restaurants and accommodation services at 1.95 per cent, and transport at 1.61 per cent.
The report said that the least contributors were recreation, sports, and culture at 0.05 per cent, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics at 0.06 per cent, and insurance and financial services at 0.07 per cent.
It said that the CPI increased to 130.0 in February, and reflected a 2.6-point increase from the 127.4 recorded in January.
The report said the food inflation rate in February was 12.12 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 14.86 percentage points lower compared to the rate recorded in February 2025 at 26.98 per cent.
However, it said on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in February was 4.69 per cent, which increased by 10.70 per cent compared to the -6.02 per cent recorded in January.
The NBS attributed the increase in food inflation on a month- on- month basis to the increase in the average prices of beans, carrots, okapi leaf, cassava tuber, and crayfish.
“Others are millet flour, yam flour, snails, avenger(ogbono/apon)-dried ungrinded, cow peas, among others.”
The report said, “All items less farm produces and energy” or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 15.88 per cent in February, on a year-on-year basis.
“This shows a decline of 9.78 per cent when compared to the 25.66 per cent recorded in February 2025.
“On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 0.89 per cent in February, which increased by 2.58 per cent compared to the -1.69 per cent recorded in January.”
The report said that the inflation rate of the sub-indices on a month-on-month basis for February showed that farm produce stood at 3.7 per cent, an increase from the -5.10 per cent recorded in January.
It said energy and services recorded a decline at -0.2 per cent and -0.3 per cent, respectively, from the -3.13 per cent and 0.48 per cent recorded in January, respectively.
The report said goods and imported foods recorded an increase at 2.8 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively, from the -4.63 per cent and -6.81 per cent recorded in January.
It said that on a year-on-year basis in February, the urban inflation rate was 15.53 per cent, which was 12.96 percentage points lower than 28.49 per cent in February 2025.
“On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.55 per cent, which increased by 5.27 per cent compared to January at -2.72 per cent.”
The report said that in February, rural inflation rate was 13.93 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.80 percentage points lower than the 22.73 per cent in February 2025.
“On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 0.71 per cent, which increased by 4.00 per cent compared to January at -3.29 per cent.”
On states’ profile analysis, the report showed that in February, the all-items index inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi at 23.57 per cent, followed by Benue at 22.85 and Anambra at 22.09 per cent.
It said that the lowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Katsina at 7.78 per cent, followed by Imo at 11.66 per cent and Ebonyi at 11.71 per cent.
However, the report said that in February, the inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was highest in Enugu at 5.92 per cent, followed by Ogun at 4.39 per cent and Anambra at 4.11 per cent.
“Zamfara at -2.14 per cent, followed by Bauchi at -1.23 per cent and Katsina at -1.06 per cent recorded a decline in month-on-month inflation.”
It said that on a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Kogi at 26.91 per cent, followed by Adamawa at 23.12 per cent, and Benue at 21.89 per cent.
“Katsina is at 5.09 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 7.09 per and Imo at 7.65 per cent recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.’’
However, it said that on a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Bayelsa at 8.81 per cent, followed by Ebonyi at 8.51 per cent, and Edo at 7.72 per cent.
“Katsina at -0.70 per cent, followed by Nasarawa at 0.17 per cent and Kano at 1.39 per cent, recorded a decline in food inflation on a month-on-month basis.”(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
OKE/KAE
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Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman Abuja
