…As Edo Records Slowest Headline Inflation Rise
As projected by many analysts over the past few days, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 15.69 per cent in April 2026, up from 15.38 per cent recorded in March, reflecting a 0.31 percentage points increase month-on-month.
In its just released ‘Consumer Price Index April 2026’ report today, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the nation’s statistical system coordinating agency, however, indicated that the latest figure was lower than the 26.82 per cent headline inflation recorded in the corresponding month of last year due to the rebasing of the nation’s CPI
The report showed that on a month-on-month basis, headline inflation eased to 2.13 per cent in April from 4.18 per cent in March, which is a slower pace in the rise of average prices despite the sustained upward trend in the annual rate.
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The statistics agency reported that on a 12-month average basis, the headline inflation rate for April 2026 was 19.16 per cent, slightly lower than the 19.33 per cent recorded in April 2025.
It attributed the upward swing in the inflation rate in April largely to increases in the prices of food, transport, and hospitality-related services.
The Bureau disclosed that the major contributors to headline inflation were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, which accounted for 6.40 percentage points, Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 3.56 percentage points, and Transport at 1.70 percentage points, while the least contributors were Recreation, Sport and Culture, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics, as well as Insurance and Financial Services.
The Bureau reported that in the month under review, Nigeria’s food inflation rate rose to 16.06% on a year-on-year basis.
On the food inflation rate it clarified: “This can be attributed to the rate of change in the average prices of the following products: Millet whole grain, yam flour, ginger (Fresh), beef, garri, tam tuber, pepper (Fresh), cray fish, cassava tuber, Beans, Irish Potatoes, tomatoes (fresh), wheat grain (Sold loose), soya beans, guinea corn, plantain, carrots (Fresh) etc.
“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending April 2026, relative to the previous twelve-month average, was 17.55%, which was 17.05% points lower than the average annual rate of change recorded in April 2025 (34.60%)”, the Bureau added.
The NBS further revealed that when analyzed on a month-on-month basis, food inflation eased to 3.63 per cent from 4.17 per cent in March and linked the moderation to changes in the average prices of staple food items including millet, yam flour, fresh ginger, beef, garri, fresh pepper, beans, tomatoes, cassava tuber, wheat grain, soybeans, guinea corn, plantain, carrots, and Irish potatoes.
Also, the CPI report reflected that the nation’s Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, rose to 15.86 per cent year-on-year in April 2026, adding however, that month-on-month, the core inflation significantly slowed to 1.03 per cent, from 4.03 per cent recorded in the preceding month.
It also introduced newly rebased inflation sub-indices, showing monthly inflation rates of 6.0 per cent for farm produce, 8.0 per cent for energy, 2.1 per cent for services, 3.2 per cent for goods, and 4.4 per cent for imported food.
The sub-indices indicated that on a year-on-year basis, farm produce inflation stood at 19.8 per cent, services at 16.7 per cent, goods at 15.7 per cent, imported food at 10.5 per cent, while energy inflation was 4.6 per cent.
According to the CPI data, the Urban and Rural inflation rates reflected mixed trends as Urban inflation stood at 15.40 per cent year-on-year in April 2026, but month-on-month it eased to 1.86 per cent from 3.16 per cent in March.
The 12-month average Urban inflation rate was 19.07 per cent, compared to 20.76 per cent recorded in April 2025.
However, the Rural inflation was higher at 16.36 per cent year-on-year, reflecting continued cost pressures outside major cities. But then, month-on-month the rural inflation dropped sharply to 2.80 per cent in April, down from 6.73 per cent in March this year.
The 12-month average rural inflation rate stood at 18.99 per cent, higher than the 17.63 per cent recorded in the same period last year.
When analyzed on state-by-state basis, the CPI data showed that Sokoto recorded the highest year-on-year headline inflation rate at 25.74 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 22.52 per cent and Zamfara at 22.03 per cent, while Edo recorded the slowest rise in headline inflation at 5.91 per cent, followed by Borno at 6.72 per cent and Jigawa at 7.04 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, the data indicated that Niger recorded the highest increase in headline inflation at 5.66 per cent, followed by Kano at 4.50 per cent and Plateau at 4.39 per cent.
Bayelsa, Enugu, and Rivers recorded the slowest monthly increases.
