Market
Ola Wale
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has dropped to 15.10% in January 2026, marking a significant slowdown in consumer price growth. This decline is largely attributed to a sharp decrease in food prices, which fell by 6.02% month-on-month, providing relief to households that have endured prolonged price pressures.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that the all-items index declined to 127.4 points in January, representing a 3.8-point drop from December 2025. Food inflation, a key driver of the headline rate, slowed to 8.89% year-on-year, down from 10.84% in December .
The decrease in food prices is linked to lower average prices of staple items such as yams, eggs, maize, beans, beef, cassava, palm oil, and groundnut oil. This moderation in food inflation is expected to ease pressure on household spending and improve consumer purchasing power .
On a year-on-year basis, headline inflation declined marginally by 0.05 percentage points from 15.15% in December 2025 and plunged by 12.51 percentage points from 27.61% in January 2025. Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 17.72% year-on-year in January 2026.
Urban inflation was 15.36% year-on-year in January 2026, while rural inflation was 14.44%. The 12-month average food inflation rate eased to 20.29%, significantly lower than the 38.47% recorded in January 2025.
The NBS attributes the decline in inflation to the new 2024 CPI base year and 2023 weight reference period. The January figures mark the first major inflation reading under the rebased CPI framework and will likely shape policy discussions on interest rates, fiscal measures, and cost-of-living interventions.
Inflationary pressures remain uneven across states, with Benue recording the highest year-on-year headline inflation at 22.48%, followed by Kogi at 20.98%, and the Federal Capital Territory at 19.25%. In contrast, Ebonyi posted 8.72%, Katsina 8.94%, and Imo 10.61% .
The decline in inflation is expected to boost consumer purchasing power and support economic recovery efforts.
