Nigeria’s inflation rate rises to 15.93% in May

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 15.93 per cent in May 2026, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The figure represents a rise from the 15.69 per cent recorded in April, marking the third consecutive monthly increase in the country’s inflation rate this year.

The NBS disclosed this on Monday, noting that although inflation continued to rise, it remained significantly lower than the 26.06 per cent recorded in May 2025.

“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate rose to 15.93 per cent, up from 15.69 per cent in April 2026 and down from 26.06 per cent in the same month of the preceding year,” the bureau stated.

The statistics agency said the May inflation rate increased by 0.24 percentage points compared to April.

However, on a month-on-month basis, headline inflation eased to 1.75 per cent from 2.13 per cent recorded in April, indicating a slower pace in the rise of average prices.

The report also showed that food inflation rose slightly to 16.96 per cent in May on a year-on-year basis, compared to 16.68 per cent recorded in April.

According to the NBS, the food inflation rate was lower than the 24.55 per cent recorded in May 2025.

“The food inflation rate in May 2026 on a month-on-month basis was 2.98 per cent, down by 0.65 percentage points from April 2026 (3.63 per cent),” the report stated.

The bureau attributed the movement in food prices to changes in the average prices of commodities such as fresh onions, maize grains, egusi, water yam, cassava flour, crayfish, fresh pepper, tomatoes, wheat grain, cassava tubers, yam tubers, sweet potatoes, fresh ginger, plantain and cowpea.

State-by-state analysis showed that year-on-year food inflation was highest in Adamawa State at 29.62 per cent, followed by Kwara State at 28.47 per cent and Rivers State at 28.40 per cent.

The lowest rates were recorded in Borno State at -6.53 per cent, Taraba State at 1.13 per cent and Bayelsa State at 5.99 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Bauchi State at 7.73 per cent, followed by Ogun State at 6.86 per cent and Jigawa State at 6.69 per cent.

Meanwhile, Niger State recorded a food inflation rate of 3.54 per cent, while Katsina State and Gombe State posted declines of 3.48 per cent and 2.22 per cent respectively.

The latest figures indicate that while inflationary pressures have eased considerably compared to a year ago, food prices and overall consumer costs continue to rise across the country.