Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined to 14.63 per cent in September 2026, down from 15.39 per cent in August, following a moderation in average food prices, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The bureau disclosed this in its latest Consumer Price Index report released on Thursday, which also showed that annual inflation fell significantly from 20.98 per cent recorded in September 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation slowed to 0.06 per cent in September from 0.71 per cent in August, indicating that consumer prices continued to rise, but at a much slower rate.

The report showed that annual inflation stood at 18.85 per cent for farm produce, 10.85 per cent for energy, 14.51 per cent for services, 14.31 per cent for goods and 9.18 per cent for imported food.

Urban inflation remained higher than rural inflation, standing at 15.64 per cent year-on-year, compared with 12.46 per cent in rural areas.

However, monthly urban inflation rose to 0.53 per cent in September from 0.28 per cent in August. In contrast, rural prices declined by 0.89 per cent, reversing the 1.79 per cent increase recorded in the previous month.

At the state level, Imo recorded the highest annual headline inflation rate at 30.04 per cent, followed by Enugu at 22.38 per cent and Niger at 22.05 per cent.

Taraba recorded the lowest annual inflation rate at 1.78 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 2.84 per cent and Adamawa at 3.66 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, Imo also recorded the highest headline inflation rate at 8.64 per cent, followed by Kaduna at 4.46 per cent and Sokoto at 3.01 per cent. Meanwhile, Adamawa, Bauchi and Kano recorded price declines of 6.10 per cent, 5.31 per cent and 4.49 per cent, respectively.

Food Inflation Across States

Lagos recorded the highest annual food inflation rate at 34.40 per cent, followed by Imo at 33.79 per cent and Ondo at 31.49 per cent.

Taraba recorded a 7.47 per cent decline in annual food prices, while Yobe posted a decrease of 0.37 per cent. Borno, meanwhile, recorded food inflation of 2.18 per cent.

On a monthly basis, food prices rose most sharply in Imo at 5.15 per cent, followed by Ondo at 4.46 per cent and Oyo at 3.82 per cent.

In contrast, Adamawa recorded the steepest monthly decline in food prices at 13.84 per cent, followed by Kano at 11.01 per cent and Bauchi at 10.21 per cent.

The NBS noted that the latest report adopted a 2024 base year and a 2023 expenditure weight reference period following its consumer price index rebasing exercise.

The bureau also cautioned that variations in household expenditure patterns influence the relative weights assigned to food and non-food items across states, meaning that direct comparisons of inflation rates may not fully reflect differences in local consumption patterns.