Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 15.38 per cent in March 2026, up from 15.06 per cent recorded in February, according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 135.4 in March 2026, representing a 5.4-point rise from 130.0 in the preceding month.

On a year-on-year basis, the March 2026 inflation rate stood at 15.38 per cent, compared with 27.35 per cent recorded in March 2025. This represents an increase of 0.32 percentage points from the 15.06 per cent recorded in February 2026.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation rose to 4.18 per cent in March 2026, which is 2.17 percentage points higher than the 2.01 per cent recorded in February.

The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending March 2026 was 20.05 per cent, reflecting a 1.48 percentage point increase compared with 18.58 per cent recorded in March 2025.

Urban inflation on a year-on-year basis stood at 14.64 per cent in March 2026, while on a month-on-month basis it rose to 3.16 per cent, up by 0.61 percentage points from 2.55 per cent in February.

The corresponding twelve-month average for urban inflation was 20.04 per cent in March 2026, slightly lower than the 20.10 per cent recorded in March 2025.

Rural inflation stood at 17.22 per cent year-on-year in March 2026. On a month-on-month basis, it rose sharply to 6.73 per cent, compared with 0.71 per cent in February.

The twelve-month average for rural inflation was 19.74 per cent in March 2026, representing a 2.93 percentage point increase from 16.81 per cent recorded in March 2025.

Food inflation stood at 14.31 per cent year-on-year in March 2026, compared with 25.22 per cent in March 2025. On a month-on-month basis, it declined slightly to 4.17 per cent from 4.69 per cent in February.

The NBS attributed the decline to changes in the average prices of items such as yam, fresh ginger, cassava tuber, shelled groundnuts, Irish potatoes, dried ogbono, fresh tomatoes, and loose cassava flour.

The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending March 2026 was 18.21 per cent, which is 17.81 percentage points lower than the 36.02 per cent recorded in March 2025.

Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 16.21 per cent year-on-year in March 2026, down from 27.12 per cent in March 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, core inflation rose to 4.03 per cent in March 2026, compared with 0.89 per cent in February.

The average twelve-month inflation rate stood at 21.09 per cent for the period ending March 2026, representing a 6.25 percentage point decline from 27.34 per cent recorded in March 2025.

At the state level, Bayelsa recorded the highest year-on-year headline inflation rate at 27.37 per cent, followed by Sokoto at 26.03 per cent and Bauchi at 23.67 per cent. Osun recorded the lowest at 5.25 per cent, followed by Kano at 9.85 per cent and Kaduna at 10.38 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, Zamfara recorded the highest increase at 10.77 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 9.37 per cent and Sokoto at 9.05 per cent. Lagos recorded the lowest increase at 1.54 per cent, followed by Akwa Ibom at 1.80 per cent and Rivers at 1.89 per cent.

Food inflation was highest in Bayelsa at 33.35 per cent, followed by Sokoto at 28.02 per cent and Adamawa at 21.67 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Kano recorded the lowest at 4.29 per cent, followed by Oyo at 4.86 per cent and Katsina at 7.48 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Sokoto at 11.78 per cent, followed by Niger at 8.59 per cent and Gombe at 8.10 per cent. Katsina recorded the lowest increase at 0.09 per cent, followed by Ogun at 0.77 per cent and Adamawa at 1.30 per cent.