The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate dropped to 15.39 per cent in August.
The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for August released in Abuja on Tuesday
The report said that the August headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.04 per cent compared to the July headline inflation rate of 15.43 per cent.
Furthermore, the report said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August was 0.71 per cent, which was 0.86 per cent lower than the rate recorded in July at 1.57per cent.
“This means that in August, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in July.”
It said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in August stood at 15.39 per cent, compared to the 23.14 per cent recorded in August 2025.
It said that the three major contributors to the headline inflation year- on- year were food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.16 per cent, restaurants and accommodation services at 1.99 per cent, and transport at 1.64 per cent.
The report said that the least contributors were recreation, sports, and culture at 0.05 per cent, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics at 0.06 per cent, and insurance and financial services at 0.07 per cent.
It said that the CPI increased to 146.3 in August, and reflected a 1.0 -point increase from the 145.3 recorded in July.
The report said the food inflation rate in August was 19.57 per cent on a year-on-year basis, compared to the rate recorded in August 2025 at 25.30 per cent.
It said that on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August was 1.02 per cent, which decreased by 4.55 per cent compared to the 5.56 per cent recorded in July.
The NBS attributed the drop in food inflation to the rate of change in the average prices of palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, tam flour and water yam.
“Others are melon, fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken, turkey, meat, yam flour, among others.”
The report said, “All items less farm produce and energy or core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 13.29 per cent in August on a year-on-year basis.
“This shows a decline of 9.64 per cent when compared to the 22.93 per cent recorded in August 2025.
“On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was -0.06 per cent in August which decreased by 0.21 per cent compared to the 0.15 per cent recorded in July.”
The report said that the inflation rate of the sub-indices for August on a month-on-month basis showed that energy stood at -0.36 per cent compared to -2.39 per cent in July.
It said farm produce stood at 1.35 per cent compared to 4.66 per cent in July, while services stood at 0.12 per cent compared to the 0.49 per cent recorded in July.
Goods stood at 0.45 per cent compared to the 1.70 per cent recorded in July, while imported food stood at 0.91 per cent compared to the 1.19 per cent recorded in July.
On a year-on-year basis in August, the urban inflation rate was 15.88 per cent.
“On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 0.28 per cent, which decreased by 1.62 per cent compared to July at 1.90 per cent.”
The report said that in August, rural inflation rate was 14.23 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
“On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 1.79 per cent, which increased by 1.01 per cent compared to July at 0.78 per cent.”
On states’ profile analysis, the report showed that in August, the all-items index inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Lagos at 23.68 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 22.56 per cent and Enugu state at 22.06 per cent.
It said that the lowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Sokoto state at 2.11 per cent, followed by Kebbi state at 3.72 per cent and Jigawa at 3.81 per cent.
However, the report said that in August, the inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was highest in Rivers at 6.92 per cent, followed by Osun at 5.61 per cent and Kano state at 5.59 per cent.
“Anambra at 8.83 per cent, followed by Bauchi state at -7.13 per cent and Borno at -7.09 per cent recorded a decline in month-on-month inflation.”
The report said that on a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Adamawa at 38.85 per cent, followed by Zamfara at 37.96 per cent, and Bayelsa at 36.20 per cent.
It said that Borno at -4.04 per cent, followed by Jigawa at -0.23 per cent and Kebbi at 3.47 per cent recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.
However, it said that on a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Katsina state at 9.48 per cent, followed by Rivers at 8.86 per cent, and Osun at 8.32 per cent.
“Taraba at -12.42 per cent, followed by Borno at -12.15 per cent and Bauchi at -8.88 per cent, recorded a decline in food inflation on a month-on-month basis,” it said.(NAN)
