By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The National Bureau of Statistics says Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped marginally to 15.06 per cent in February from 15.10 per cent in January.
This was contained in the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, which measures the average change over time in the prices of goods and services consumed by households, released by the NBS on Monday, March 16.
According to the report, the CPI increased to 130 in February from 127.4 in January, reflecting a 2.6-point monthly increase.
The NBS stated that inflation rate also dropped significantly on a year-on-year basis, noting that the February 2026 Headline inflation rate was 11.21 per cent lower than the rate recorded in February 2025 (26.27 per cent).
The bureau noted that despite a decline on a year-on-year basis, the average price level increased faster on a monthly basis.
It said that month-on-month, the inflation rate stood at 2.01 per cent in February, compared with a decline of 2.88 per cent recorded in January.
The NBS said: “This means that in February, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in January.”
The report further stated that food prices remained the largest driver of inflation during the period, accounting for the highest contribution to the headline index.
It shows that food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 6.03 percentage points to overall inflation, followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 1.95 percentage points, and transport at 1.61 percentage points.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels accounted for 1.27 percentage points, while education services contributed 0.93 percentage points to the headline index.
The report also shows that on a year-on-year basis, urban inflation stood at 15.53 percent in February 2026, lower than the 28.49 per cent recorded in February 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate increased to 2.55 percent from a decline of 2.72 per cent in January.
The NBS stated that rural inflation also declined on a yearly basis but rose compared with the previous month. On a year-on-year basis, rural inflation stood at 13.93 percent in February 2026, compared with 22.73 per cent in February 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, rural inflation increased to 0.71 per cent in February, from a decline of 3.29 per cent recorded in January.
The bureau also disclosed that food inflation, which represents a significant component of household expenditure, also moderated significantly on a yearly basis.
The report noted that the food inflation rate stood at 12.12 per cent year-on-year in February, compared with 26.98 per cent recorded in February 2025.
The NBS stated that food prices increased sharply during the month despite year-on-year decline.
It said, “On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in February 2026 was 4.69 per cent, up by 10.70 per cent compared to January 2026 (-6.02 per cent).”
The bureau attributed the rise in food prices to increases in the average prices of several food items including beans, carrots, okazi leaf, cassava tuber, crayfish, millet flour, yam flour, snails, and dried ogbono.
The report also shows that core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, also declined on a yearly basis.
It said core inflation stood at 15.88 per cent year-on-year in February 2026, compared with 25.66 per cent recorded in February 2025.
However, on a month-on-month basis, core inflation rate rose to 0.89 per cent from a decline of 1.69 per cent in January.
The NBS added that the twelve-month average inflation rate for the period ending February 2026 increased to 21.03 per cent, compared with 18.01 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
A state-by-state analysis of the February inflation data showed wide variations in price movements across the country.
Year-on-year, Kogi recorded the highest all-items inflation rate at 23.57 per cent, followed by Benue at 22.85 per cent, and Anambra at 22.09 per cent.
On the other hand, Katsina recorded the lowest yearly inflation rate at 7.78 per cent, followed by Imo at 11.66 per cent, and Ebonyi at 11.71 per cent.
