Nigeria’s inflation rose to 15.93% in May – NBS

Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 15.93 per cent in May 2026.

This marked the third consecutive monthly increase in the annual inflation rate as food prices continued to pressure household budgets despite a slowdown in the pace of monthly price increases.

The latest Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed that inflation increased from 15.69 per cent in April to 15.93 per cent in May, extending a rebound that began in March after inflation fell slightly to 15.06 per cent in February.

The report showed that the Consumer Price Index increased to 140.7 in May from 138.3 in April, representing a 2.4-point increase in the general price level.

According to the NBS, “In May 2026, the Headline inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was 1.75 per cent, which was 0.39 per cent lower than the rate recorded in April 2026 (2.13 per cent). This means that in May 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in April 2026.”

Although the month-on-month inflation rate moderated, the annual inflation rate continued its upward trend, rising from 15.38 per cent in March to 15.69 per cent in April before reaching 15.93 per cent in May.

“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate rose to 15.93 per cent, up from 15.69 per cent in April 2026 and down from 26.06 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (May 2025). Looking at the movement, the May 2026 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.24 per cent compared to the April 2026 Headline inflation rate,” the report read.

The latest figure, however, remained substantially below the 26.06 per cent recorded in May 2025, highlighting the significant easing in inflationary pressures compared with a year earlier. The NBS noted that the May inflation rate was 0.24 percentage points higher than the 15.69 per cent recorded in April.

An analysis of the inflation basket showed that food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to headline inflation, accounting for 6.38 percentage points of the annual inflation 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.

Education services contributed 0.99 percentage points to headline inflation, followed by health at 0.97 percentage points and clothing and footwear at 0.80 percentage points. Information and communication, as well as personal care and miscellaneous goods and services, each contributed 0.52 percentage points.

The report further showed that average inflation for the 12 months ending May 2026 stood at 18.36 per cent, compared with 30.57 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

Food prices remained one of the strongest drivers of inflation during the month.

The NBS reported that food inflation stood at 16.96 per cent year-on-year in May, compared with 24.55 per cent in the corresponding month of 2025. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation eased to 2.98 per cent from 3.63 per cent recorded in April.

According to the bureau, the increase in food prices was driven by the rising cost of staple items, including onions, maize grains, melon, water yam, cassava flour, crayfish, fresh pepper, tomatoes, wheat grain, cassava tubers, yam tubers, sweet potatoes, ginger, plantain and cowpea.

“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending May 2026 over the previous twelve-month average was 16.99 per cent, which was 16.22 percentage points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in May 2025 (33.21 per cent),” the report stated.