By Mary Izuaka

 

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell to 15.43 per cent in July, down from 15.91 per cent in June 2026, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

The statistics office said the July 2026 headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.48 per compared to the June 2026 Headline inflation rate.

On a month-on-month basis, the NBS said the headline inflation rate in July 2026 was 1.57 per cent, which was 0.09 per cent lower than the rate recorded in June 2026 (1.66 per cent).

“This means that in July 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in June 2026,” the NBS said.

Inflation indicators compare prices of goods and services over 12 months. A decline does not necessarily imply a reduction in prices; instead, it shows the rate of price increase had fallen compared to previous months.

The NBS said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 145.3 in July 2026, reflecting a 2.2-point increase from the preceding month (143.0).

It explained the percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending July 2026 over the average for the previous twelve-month period was 16.89 per cent, showing a 12.21 per cent decrease compared to 29.10 per cent recorded in July 2025.

Urban inflation

On a year-on-year basis, the NBS said in July 2026, the Urban inflation rate was 16.12 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate was 1.90 per cent in July 2026, down by 0.23 per cent compared to June 2026 (2.13 per cent).

It said the corresponding twelve-month average for the Urban inflation rate was 16.81 per cent in July 2026. This was 13.93 per points lower compared to the 30.74 per cent reported in July 2025.

Rural inflation

According to the bureau, the Rural inflation rate in July 2026 was 13.77 per cent on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the Rural inflation rate in July 2026 was 0.78 per cent, up by 0.25 per cent compared to June 2026 (0.52 per cent).

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“The corresponding twelve-month average for the Rural inflation rate in July 2026 was 16.72 per cent. This was 10.33 per cent points lower compared to the 27.05 per cent recorded in July 2025,” it said.

Food inflation

The NBS said the food inflation rate in July 2026 was 20.31 per cent on a year-on-year basis and stood at 26.20 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (July 2025).

On a month-on-month basis, the NBS said the food inflation rate in July 2026 was 5.56 per cent, up by 1.82 per cent points from June 2026 (3.75 per cent).

This, this NBS can be attributed to the rate of change in the average prices of crayfish, pepper (fresh), onions (fresh), carrots (fresh), rice, water yam, tomatoes (fresh), garri, plantain, beef, egg, guinea corn, ginger, plantain Flour, etc.

“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending July 2026 over the previous twelve-month average was 16.06 per cent, which was 14.79 per cent points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in July 2025 (30.85 per cent),” the NBS said.