Inflation eases to 15.10% in January —NBS
National Bureau of Statistics NBS
Abdullateef Fowewe
In a welcome respite for consumers battered by soaring prices, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate ticked down slightly to 15.10% in January 2026 from 15.15% in December 2025, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Monday.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined to 127.4 in January, marking a 3.8-point drop from December’s 131.2. On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate plunged to -2.88%, a sharp 3.42 percentage point improvement from December’s 0.54%.
“This means that in January 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in December 2025,” the NBS report stated.
Seasonal factors, including post-holiday demand slumps, fueled the negative month-on-month CPI shift, providing some breathing room despite persistent high food and transport costs averaging over 20% annually.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also eased to 22.59%, signaling cooling underlying pressures.
