Nigeria’s Headline inflation rate rose to 15.38% in March 2026, up from 15.06% recorded in February 2026, and stood 27.35% in the same month of the preceding year (March 2025).
This comes after a 12-month decline, attributable to the increases recorded at the divisional level of the basket.
The figures were contained in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.
Looking at the report, the March 2026 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.32% compared to the February 2026 Headline inflation rate.
However, on a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in March 2026 was 4.18%, which was 2.17% higher than the rate recorded in February 2026 (2.01%).
This means that in March 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in February 2026.
URBAN INFLATION
On a year-on-year basis, in March 2026, the Urban inflation rate was 14.64%. On a month-on-month basis, the Urban inflation rate was 3.16% in March 2026, up by 0.61% compared to February 2026 (2.55%).
The corresponding twelve-month average for the Urban inflation rate was 20.04% in March 2026. This was 0.06% points lower compared to the 20.10% reported in March 2025.
RURAL INFLATION
The Rural inflation rate in March 2026 was 17.22% on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the Rural inflation rate in March 2026 was 6.73%, up by 6.02% compared to February 2026 (0,71%).
The corresponding twelve-month average for the Rural inflation rate in March 2026 was 19.74%. This was 2.93% points higher compared to the 16.81% recorded in March 2025.
FOOD INFLATION
The Food inflation rate in March 2026 was 14.31% on a year-on-year basis and stood at 25.22% in the same month of the preceding year (March 2025).
However, on a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in March 2026 was 4.17%, down 0.52 percentage points from February 2026 (4.69%).
This can be attributed to the rate of change in the average prices of the following products: Yam, Ginger (Fresh), Cassava Tuber, Groundnuts (Shelled), Irish Potatoes, Avenger (Ogbono/Apon) – Dried Ungrinded, Toma toes (fresh), Cassava Flour sold loose, etc.
The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending March 2026 over the previous twelve-month average was 18.21%, which was 17.81% points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in March 2025 (36.02%).
CORE INFLATION
Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural products and energy, stood at 16.21% in March 2026 on a year-on-year basis; a decline of 10.91% points when compared to the 27.12% recorded in March 2025.
On a month-on month basis, the Core Inflation rate was 4.03% in March 2026, up by 3.14% points compared to February 2026 (0.89%). The average twelve-month annual inflation rate was 21.09% for the twelve months ending March 2026, which was 6.25% points lower than the 27.34% recorded in March 2025.
