JUST IN: Inflation rises to 15.69% in April

National Bureau of Statistics has announced that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 15.69 per cent in April 2026.

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures were released in a statement signed by the Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran.

According to the statement, the report follows the completion of the recent CPI rebasing exercise, which adopted 2024 as the new base year and 2023 as the weight reference period.

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The bureau stated that the CPI increased to 138.3 in April 2026, representing a 2.9-point rise from the previous month.

Adeniran explained that the headline inflation rate increased from 15.38 per cent recorded in March 2026 but remained significantly lower than the 26.82 per cent recorded in April 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation stood at 2.13 per cent in April 2026, lower than the 4.18 per cent recorded in March.

According to the NBS, the highest contributors to headline inflation were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages at 6.40 per cent, Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 3.56 per cent, and Transport at 1.70 per cent.

The least contributing sectors were Recreation, Sport and Culture, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics, as well as Insurance and Financial Services.

The bureau further disclosed that food inflation stood at 16.06 per cent year-on-year in April 2026, compared with 24.68 per cent recorded in April 2025.

Month-on-month food inflation declined to 3.63 per cent from 4.17 per cent in March.

The NBS attributed the movement in food inflation to price changes in items including millet, yam flour, fresh ginger, beef, garri, yam tubers, fresh pepper, crayfish, cassava tubers, beans, Irish potatoes, tomatoes, wheat grain, soybeans, guinea corn, plantain, and carrots.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 15.86 per cent year-on-year in April 2026.

On a month-on-month basis, core inflation slowed to 1.03 per cent from 4.03 per cent in March.

The report also showed that monthly inflation changes for key sub-indices stood at Farm Produce (6.0%), Energy (8.0%), Services (2.1%), Goods (3.2%), and Imported Food (4.4%).

Year-on-year inflation rates for the same categories were Farm Produce (19.8%), Energy (4.6%), Services (16.7%), Goods (15.7%), and Imported Food (10.5%).

According to the bureau, urban inflation stood at 15.40 per cent year-on-year in April 2026, while rural inflation was higher at 16.36 per cent.

On a state-by-state basis, Sokoto recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate at 25.74 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 22.52 per cent and Zamfara at 22.03 per cent.

States with the lowest year-on-year inflation rates were Edo at 5.91 per cent, Borno at 6.72 per cent, and Jigawa at 7.04 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, Niger recorded the highest increase at 5.66 per cent, followed by Kano at 4.50 per cent and Plateau at 4.39 per cent.

Meanwhile, Bayelsa, Enugu, and Rivers recorded the slowest month-on-month inflation increases.

For food inflation, Enugu recorded the highest year-on-year rate at 32.67 per cent, followed by Kwara and Adamawa.

The slowest food inflation rates were recorded in Borno, Jigawa, and Taraba.

On a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Niger, Bauchi, and Kogi, while Kebbi, Katsina, and Bayelsa recorded the slowest increases.