Inflation Climbs to 15.93% as Food, Energy, and Commodity Prices Rise

•  Severe in Yobe, Anambra, Sokoto, others

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks changes in the prices of goods and commodities, rose to 15.93 percent in May, up from 15.69 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported yesterday.

This marks the third consecutive monthly increase in inflation after a long period of disinflation, indicating that underlying price pressures remain persistent even as monthly movements have recently moderated.

For the month, headline inflation eased to 1.75 percent in May from 2.13 percent in April, showing that while prices continued to climb, the pace of increase slowed compared with April.

The average annual headline inflation rate for the 12 months ending May 2026 was 18.36 percent, a sharp decline from 30.57 percent recorded in the same period in 2025.

Food inflation, a key driver of household spending, was 16.96 percent year‑on‑year in May, down from 24.55 percent in May 2025.

The NBS attributed the change in food prices to variations in the average prices of onions, maize, melon (egusi), water yam, cassava flour, crayfish, fresh pepper, tomatoes, wheat, cassava tuber, yam tuber, sweet potatoes, fresh ginger, plantain and cowpea, among others.

Month‑on‑month, food inflation moderated to 2.98 percent from 3.63 percent in April, reflecting slower price increases during the review period.

The average annual food inflation rate for the 12 months ending May 2026 was 16.99 percent, compared with 33.21 percent in May 2025.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 16.82 percent year‑on‑year in May, versus 24.92 percent in the same month last year.

On a month‑on‑month basis, core inflation accelerated to 1.94 percent from 1.03 percent in April, indicating renewed pressure from non‑food components of the inflation basket.

The average 12‑month core inflation rate was 19.59 percent, lower than the 27.05 percent recorded in May 2025.

Urban inflation was 16.07 percent year‑on‑year in May, while month‑on‑month urban inflation rose slightly to 1.99 percent from 1.86 percent in April.

The average annual urban inflation rate for the 12 months ending May 2026 was 18.27 percent, compared with 32.55 percent a year earlier.

Rural inflation was 15.60 percent year‑on‑year in May. Month‑on‑month, the rural index slowed considerably to 1.17 percent from 2.80 percent in April.

The average annual rural inflation rate for the 12‑month period ending May 2026 was 18.19 percent, lower than the 28.36 percent reported in May 2025.

At the state level, year‑on‑year headline inflation was highest in Yobe at 24.94 percent, followed by Anambra at 23.29 percent and Sokoto at 22.60 percent.

Conversely, Niger recorded the lowest headline inflation rate at 3.07 percent, followed by Plateau at 7.10 percent and Edo at 7.73 percent.

Month‑on‑month, the largest increases in headline inflation were in Benue at 8.23 percent, Bayelsa at 7.62 percent and Borno at 7.29 percent, while Niger recorded –4.55 percent, and Zamfara and Taraba posted –3.36 percent and –2.67 percent respectively.

Year‑on‑year food inflation was highest in Adamawa at 29.62 percent, followed by Kwara at 28.47 percent and Rivers at 28.40 percent.

Borno recorded a food inflation rate of –6.53 percent, while Taraba and Bayelsa posted the slowest increases at 1.13 percent and 5.99 percent respectively.

Month‑on‑month, food inflation was highest in Bauchi at 7.73 percent, Ogun at 6.86 percent and Jigawa at 6.69 percent.

However, Niger recorded the slowest rise in food prices at –3.54 percent, while Katsina and Gombe also posted –3.48 percent and –2.22 percent respectively.