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Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 15.38 per cent in March 2026, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said, signaling a renewed uptick in the cost of living across the country.
The figure, contained in the NBS Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released in Abuja on Wednesday, represents a 0.32 percentage point increase from the 15.06 per cent recorded in February 2026.
However, on a year-on-year basis, inflation remains significantly lower than the 27.35 per cent posted in March 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, inflation rose sharply to 4.18 per cent in March, up from 2.01 per cent in February, indicating a faster pace in the rise of average prices within the month under review.
The NBS attributed the persistent rise in headline inflation largely to increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages, which contributed 5.55 percentage points, followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 3.26 per cent, and transport at 1.80 per cent.
Conversely, recreation, sports and culture recorded negligible impact at 0.00 per cent, while alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics, as well as insurance and financial services, contributed just 0.02 per cent each.
The CPI rose to 135.4 in March, reflecting a 5.4-point increase from 130.0 recorded in February.
Food inflation stood at 14.31 per cent year-on-year, a notable decline from 25.22 per cent in March 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation eased slightly to 4.17 per cent, down from 4.69 per cent in February.
The decline in monthly food inflation was linked to changes in the prices of key staples, including yam, fresh ginger, cassava, groundnuts, Irish potatoes, tomatoes and cassava flour.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 16.21 per cent year-on-year, down from 25.12 per cent in March 2025.
However, on a month-on-month basis, it surged to 4.03 per cent from 0.89 per cent in February.
A breakdown of sub-indices showed that energy inflation rose by 6.6 per cent, goods by 5.5 per cent, farm produce by 4.6 per cent, services by 2.6 per cent, while imported food stood at 1.1 per cent on a month-on-month basis.
Urban inflation rate stood at 14.64 per cent year-on-year, with a month-on-month increase to 3.16 per cent from 2.55 per cent in February. In rural areas, inflation was higher at 17.22 per cent year-on-year, with a sharp month-on-month rise to 6.73 per cent from 0.71 per cent.
At the state level, Bayelsa recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate at 27.37 per cent, followed by Sokoto at 26.03 per cent and Bauchi at 23.67 per cent.
Osun posted the lowest rate at 5.25 per cent, trailed by Kano at 9.85 per cent and Kaduna at 10.38 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, Zamfara recorded the highest inflation rate at 10.77 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 9.37 per cent and Sokoto at 9.05 per cent.
In contrast, Lagos (1.54 per cent), Akwa Ibom (1.80 per cent) and Rivers (1.89 per cent) recorded the slowest increases.
Food inflation was highest year-on-year in Bayelsa at 33.35 per cent, followed by Sokoto at 28.02 per cent and Adamawa at 21.67 per cent. Kano (4.29 per cent), Oyo (4.86 per cent) and Katsina (7.48 per cent) recorded the lowest increases.
Month-on-month, Sokoto led with 11.78 per cent food inflation, followed by Niger (8.59 per cent) and Gombe (8.10 per cent), while Katsina (0.09 per cent), Ogun (0.77 per cent) and Adamawa (1.30 per cent) recorded the slowest rise, according to NBS.
Economic analysts said the latest figures underscore sustained pressure on household incomes, despite a notable moderation in year-on-year inflation compared to the previous year and called on the government to do the needful to stem the trend.
-NAN.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
