Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 15.93 per cent in May from 15.69 per cent in April 2026, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.
The NBS said the May 2026 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.24 per cent compared to the April 2026 Headline inflation rate.
On a month-on-month basis, the bureau said it was 1.75 per cent, which was 0.39 per cent lower than the rate recorded in April 2026 (2.13 per cent).
This, it said, means that in May 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in April 2026.
The statistics office said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 140.7 in May 2026, reflecting a 2.4-point increase from the preceding month (138.3).
“The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending May 2026 over the average for the previous twelve-month period was 18.36 per cent, showing a 12.21 per cent decrease compared to 30.57 per cent recorded in May 2025,” the NBS said.
Inflation indicators compare prices of goods and services over 12 months. Nigeria has experienced a sharp increase in food prices in recent years. This trend worsened in 2023 following President Bola Tinubu’s removal of petrol subsidies and adopting a floating exchange rate for the naira. This shift has led to a steep increase in the cost of staple food, pushing many Nigerians further into poverty and heightening food insecurity.
Food inflation
The bureau said the food inflation rate in May 2026 on a month-on-month basis was 2.98 per cent, down by 0.65 per cent points from April 2026 (3.63 per cent).
On a year-on-year basis, it was 16.96 per cent and stood at 24.55 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (May 2025).
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This, it said, can be attributed to the rate of change in the average prices of onions (fresh), maize (corn) grains, melon (egusi), water yam, cassava flour, crayfish, pepper (fresh), tomatoes (fresh), wheat grain, cassava tuber, yam tuber, sweet potatoes, ginger (fresh), plantain, cowpea, etc.
It added that the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending May 2026 over the previous twelve-month average was 16.99 per cent, which was 16.22 per cent points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in May 2025 (33.21 per cent).
Core inflation
According to the report, the “All items less farm produces and energy” or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produces and energy, stood at 16.82 per cent in May 2026 on a year-on-year basis; a decline of 8.1 per cent when compared to the 24.92 per cent recorded in May 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, it said the Core inflation rate was 1.94 per cent in May 2026, up by 0.92 per cent compared to April 2026 (1.03 per cent). The average twelve-month annual inflation rate was 19.59 per cent for the twelve months ending May 2026, which was 7.47 per cent points lower than the 27.05 per cent recorded in May 2025.
