According to Punch, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased only slightly to 15.39 per cent in August 2026, compared with 15.43 per cent in July, even as households continued to face high food and transport costs. The National Bureau of Statistics said the year-on-year rate was also far below the 23.14 per cent recorded in August 2025, while month-on-month inflation slowed to 0.71 per cent from 1.57 per cent.
Food inflation remained the heaviest driver of the index at 19.57 per cent year on year, though the monthly food rise cooled sharply to 1.02 per cent from 5.56 per cent in July. Core inflation, which strips out volatile farm produce and energy, stood at 13.29 per cent year on year. Urban inflation was reported at 15.88 per cent, while rural inflation rose to 14.23 per cent.
ThisDay’s James Emejo reported that the Consumer Price Index still increased to higher points even as the annual rate cooled, underscoring that prices are rising more slowly rather than falling. “Month-on-month headline inflation dropped to 0.71 per cent in August, compared to 1.57 per cent in the preceding month,” the paper noted. Daily Trust separately recorded the same official print and quoted the statistics office as saying the August increase in the average price level was lower than in July: “This means that in August 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in July 2026.”
Echotitbits take: A four-basis-point dip will not transform household budgets, but the sharp monthly slowdown in food prices is the figure markets and the Monetary Policy Committee will watch. What comes next is whether September’s petrol and logistics shocks reverse the modest disinflation before the next CPI release.
Source: Punch – https://punchng.com/inflation-eases-to-15-39-as-food-prices-slow-nbs-sami-tunji-abuja-nigerias-headline-inflation-rate-eased-marginally-to-15-39-per-cent-in-august-2026-as-the-pace-of-increase-in-f/, September 15, 2026
Punch
Photo Credit: The Guardian
