In what appears to be a continued, albeit slow, cooling of price pressures across the country, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 15.06 per cent in February 2026.

Data released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed a marginal drop of 0.04 percentage points from the 15.10 per cent recorded in January.

While the decline is slight, it signals a continued trend of moderation that policymakers at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are expected to monitor closely as they pursue price stability.

According to the report, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the average change over time in the prices of goods and services consumed by households, rose to 130.0 in February 2026, up from 127.4 in January, representing a 2.6-point increase within the month.

On a year-on-year basis, headline inflation fell significantly to 15.06 per cent, compared with 26.27 per cent recorded in February 2025, representing a decline of 11.21 percentage points.

However, prices increased at a faster pace on a monthly basis.

The inflation rate stood at 2.01 per cent in February, higher than the -2.88 per cent recorded in January.

The food inflation rate in February 2026 was 12.12 per cent on a year-on-year basis, 14.86 per cent points lower compared to the rate recorded in February 2025 (26.98 per cent).

However, on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in February 2026 was 4.69 per cent, up by 10.70 per cent compared to January 2026 (-6.02 per cent).

The NBS explained that the increase could be attributed to the rate of increase in the average prices of beans, carrots, Okazi leaf, cassava tuber, crayfish, millet flour, yam flour, snails, avenger (ogbono/apon) – dried ungrinded, cow peas, etc.

“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending February 2026 over the previous 12-month average was 19.08 per cent, which was 18.31 per cent points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in February 2025 (37.40 per cent),” the report revealed.

On a year-on-year basis, in February 2026, the urban inflation rate was 15.53 per cent, representing a 12.96 per cent points lower compared to the 28.49 per cent recorded in February 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.55 per cent in February 2026, up by 5.27 per cent compared to January 2026 (- 2.72 per cent).

“This was 1.81 per cent points higher compared to the 19.44 per cent reported in February 2025.

“The Rural inflation rate in February 2026 was 13.93 per cent on a year-on-year basis. This was 8.80 per cent points lower compared to the 22.73 per cent recorded in February 2025.

“On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in February 2026 was 0.71 per cent, up by 4.00 per cent compared to January 2026 (-3.29 per cent). The corresponding 12-month average for the rural inflation rate in February 2026 was 20.28 per cent. This was 3.80 per cent points higher compared to the 16.47 per cent recorded in February 2025,” it added.