- Safiu Kehinde
The Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has recorded a sharp drop to 15.06 percent in February.
This was disclosed in the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) 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.
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in February was 11.21 percent lower than the rate recorded in February 2025 at 26.27 percent.
The report said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in February was 2.01 percent, which was 4.89 percent higher than the rate recorded in January at -2.88 percent.
“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.” the CPI and Inflation report read.
Meanwhile, the three major contributors to the headline inflation year- on- year as listed in the report were food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.03 percent, restaurants and accommodation services at 1.95 percent, and transport at 1.61 percent.
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 percent, 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 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 14.86 percentage points lower compared to the rate recorded in February 2025 at 26.98 percent.
However, it said on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in February was 4.69 percent, which increased by 10.70 percent compared to the -6.02 percent 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 percent in February, on a year-on-year basis.
“This shows a decline of 9.78 percent when compared to the 25.66 percent recorded in February 2025.
“On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 0.89 percent in February, which increased by 2.58 percent compared to the -1.69 percent 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 percent, an increase from the -5.10 percent recorded in January.
It said energy and services recorded a decline at -0.2 percent and -0.3 percent, respectively, from the -3.13 percent and 0.48 percent recorded in January, respectively.
The report said goods and imported foods recorded an increase at 2.8 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, from the -4.63 percent and -6.81 percent recorded in January.
It said that on a year-on-year basis in February, the urban inflation rate was 15.53 percent, which was 12.96 percentage points lower than 28.49 percent in February 2025.
“On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.55 per cent, which increased by 5.27 percent compared to January at -2.72 percent.”
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 percent, which increased by 4.00 percent 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 percent, 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 percent, followed by Bauchi at -1.23 percent and Katsina at -1.06 percent 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 percent, followed by Adamawa at 23.12 percent, and Benue at 21.89 percent.
“Katsina is at 5.09 percent, followed by Bauchi at 7.09 percent and Imo at 7.65 percent 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 percent, followed by Ebonyi at 8.51 percent, and Edo at 7.72 percent.
“Katsina at -0.70 per cent, followed by Nasarawa at 0.17 percent and Kano at 1.39 percent, recorded a decline in food inflation on a month-on-month basis.”