Inflation reverses course, climbs to 15.3% after 12-month fall

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 15.38 per cent in March 2026, marking the first increase in a year and ending a steady decline that began in April 2025.

The latest figure, released by the National Bureau of Statistics in its Consumer Price Index report on Wednesday, is higher than the 15.06 per cent recorded in February.

“The Headline inflation rate rose to 15.38%, up from 15.06% in February 2026 and stood 27.35% in the same month of the preceding year (March 2025),” the bureau said.

The report also showed a sharp monthly rise in the pace of price increases. Month-on-month inflation climbed to 4.18 per cent in March, compared with 2.01 per cent in February.

“This means that in March 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in February 2026,” the NBS added.

Food prices remained a key pressure point in the economy, although annual food inflation eased significantly to 14.31 per cent from 25.22 per cent recorded in March last year.

On a monthly basis, food inflation stood at 4.17 per cent, slightly lower than February’s 4.69 per cent.

The bureau linked the movement in food prices to changes in the cost of staple commodities including yam, fresh ginger, cassava tuber, groundnuts, Irish potatoes, dried ogbono, tomatoes and loose cassava flour.

Across the states, Bayelsa recorded the highest annual food inflation rate at 33.35 per cent, followed by Sokoto at 28.02 per cent and Adamawa at 21.67 per cent.

Kano, Oyo and Katsina posted the slowest annual rise in food prices.

For monthly food inflation, Sokoto, Niger and Gombe recorded the highest increases, while Katsina, Ogun and Adamawa saw the slowest growth.