Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Rises To 15.93% In May

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 15.93 per cent in May 2026, marking the third consecutive monthly rise this year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The report showed that the CPI rose to 140.7 in May from 138.3 recorded in April, reflecting sustained pressure on consumer prices across key sectors of the economy.

On a month-on-month basis, however, inflation moderated to 1.75 per cent in May, down from 2.13 per cent recorded in April. The NBS noted that while prices continued to increase, the pace of monthly increases slowed compared to the previous month.

The annual inflation rate rose from 15.69 per cent in April to 15.93 per cent in May, representing an increase of 0.24 percentage points. Despite the increase, the figure remains significantly lower than the 26.06 per cent recorded in May 2025.

According to the NBS, food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributors to inflation, accounting for 6.38 percentage points of the headline rate. Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 2.06 percentage points, transport accounted for 1.70 percentage points, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 1.34 percentage points.

Other major contributors included education services, health, clothing and footwear, information and communication, as well as personal care and miscellaneous goods and services.

Food inflation stood at 16.96 per cent on a year-on-year basis in May, compared to 24.55 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025. On a monthly basis, food inflation eased to 2.98 per cent from 3.63 per cent recorded in April.

The increase in food prices was driven by higher costs of staple commodities including onions, maize, tomatoes, fresh pepper, yam tubers, cassava products, wheat grain, plantain, cowpea and other agricultural produce.

Core inflation, which excludes farm produce and energy prices, stood at 16.82 per cent year-on-year. On a month-on-month basis, core inflation increased to 1.94 per cent from 1.03 per cent recorded in April, indicating persistent price pressures in non-food sectors.

The report further showed that urban inflation was 16.07 per cent year-on-year, while rural inflation stood at 15.60 per cent.

Services inflation remained elevated at 17.92 per cent year-on-year, while imported food inflation was recorded at 14.60 per cent. Goods inflation stood at 6.62 per cent, while energy inflation was 5.73 per cent.

At the state level, Yobe recorded the highest annual inflation rate at 24.94 per cent, followed by Anambra at 23.29 per cent and Sokoto at 22.60 per cent.

Niger State recorded the lowest annual inflation rate at 3.07 per cent, followed by Plateau at 7.10 per cent and Edo at 7.73 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, Benue recorded the highest increase in inflation at 8.23 per cent, while Niger recorded the largest decline at 4.55 per cent.

The NBS noted that the average inflation rate for the twelve months ending May 2026 stood at 18.36 per cent, compared with 30.57 per cent recorded during the corresponding period in 2025.

The latest figures suggest that although inflationary pressures have eased significantly compared to a year ago, rising food costs, services inflation, insecurity and global economic uncertainties continue to drive increases in consumer prices across the country.